The Italian gained time on his overall rivals and exposed Rigoberto Uran's limits, but was that was not enough to quell his anger with Nairo Quintana, who went on the attack with him in the final three kilometres of the climb but refused to help gain time on their rivals.
"He said he was at his limit but he clearly wasn't by the way he jumped me in sight of the line," Pozzovivo said angrily of Quintana, as he wrapped a towel around his neck after crossing the finish line.
"I wanted to try something and Quintana came up to me but he wouldn't pull through. The idea of the attack was to gain time but the pink jersey but we won’t do that if play games."
Pozzovivo gained 21 seconds on Uran and 17 seconds on Evans. He is fourth overall, at 2:11 but is convinced he is the best climber in this year's Giro d'Italia, that he can pull back further time and challenge for overall victory.
"I lost a little speed in the finale, but it was a good try. I took back a little time. But we cannot let these opportunities go by without trying," he said, buoyed by his performance.
"Uran perhaps paid for his huge effort in the time trial but I think I showed I'm the strongest on the climbs now. I think we all saw that. It's a good sign, and I'll try again tomorrow (Sunday) too!"
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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
