Terror for Filippo Zana at the Tour of Slovenia

Terror for Filippo Zana at the Tour of Slovenia

Just two days after the tragic fatal fall of Gino Mäder, more terror shudders in cycling, but fortunately this time it was a happy ending. It happened during the last kilometers of today’s stage of the Tour of Slovenia, and the protagonist was Filippo Zana. The Italian champion was in a lonely breakaway, but on the descent from Kolovrat, the mountain overlooking Kobarid, where the finish line was located, he misjudged the setting of a curve and went off the road, flying into an escarpment, complete with a somersault.

Fortunately, he recovered almost immediately and resumed pedaling even though he had lost the lead at that point and at that point protected the action of teammate Jesus David Pena, a Colombian who went on to win the stage, finishing second. Thanks to the bonuses at the finish, Zana overtook Diego Ulissi in the overall standings, becoming the new leader of the Tour of Slovenia by one second over the Tuscan and six over Lorenzo Fortunato.

“It was my mistake,” Zana said about the crash, “because I trusted the bike’s computer. At that moment the on-board gps was not updating. I gave everyone quite a scare, luckily I only have a sore ankle.” Then on the stage: “I am happy that Pena won today, thus giving the right reward for the work done by the team in these days. I want to dedicate the team’s success to Gino Mäder. It is a very sad time for cycling, we are all sad and it is not easy to race these days. All our thoughts are for him at all times.”