Three years after his strong fourth place in the Tour of France, Emanuel Buchmann has his sights set on a top place in a Grand Tour again.
The climbing specialist from the Allgäu starts the difficult final week of the 105th Giro d'Italia in seventh place overall and could be the first German rider to finish in the top ten again since Dietrich Thurau finished fifth 39 years ago. However, Buchmann cannot count on the captain's role in the showdown in the mountains - his Bora-hansgrohe team-mate Jai Hindley, second overall, even has the Giro triumph in his sights.
Buchmann reached the finish of the mountain top finish after 177 kilometres among the favourites. He is now two minutes behind the leader and Olympic champion Richard Carapaz from Ecuador. Australian Hindley is only nine seconds off the pink jersey. The Italian Giulio Ciccone won the 15th stage on his own ahead of the Colombian fellow breakaway rider Santiago Buitrago. The group of favourites reached the finish almost eight minutes later.
Fit again after bronchitis - and still in the race
Buchmann's trump card comes now. The 29-year-old wanted to be in top form in the third week after a bout of bronchitis had thrown him off his stride in preparation. Anything is still possible on four mountain stages.
On Saturday, Buchmann's Bora-hansgrohe team put in a strong team performance to make major changes to the overall classification. Carapaz took over the pink jersey from Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez, but Hindley is breathing down his neck.
German team satisfied
"That's great for the team's confidence. They've seen that when we start an action, we can put other teams in trouble," said Jens Zemke, sporting director for Bora. In any case, the Giro is going according to plan for the German team. Lennard Kämna with his triumph on Mount Etna and Hindley have already secured two stage wins.
It is fitting that Tour de France stage winner Nils Politt celebrated a home victory at the 104th edition of Rund um Köln on Sunday. With eight victories in the past five weeks, the Bora team has made up for a weak spring, which was influenced by many illnesses.
After the rest day on Monday, the final week of the Giro begins with the 16th stage on Tuesday, covering 202 kilometres from Salo to Aprica. There are three first-category mountains to conquer.
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