My first ever road bike was a Bianchi with a steel frame and wheels. It was the typical Bianchi colours. It was pretty old. I was 13 years old and it was my first season. I did my whole season on this bike.
The bike belonged to my first coach when I was under 15. He gave it to me for free because I couldn’t afford a road bike. He told me to ride one year with the bike and then we can see how I get me my own bike after that.
It was the beginning of something bigger.
That memory is what made the start of the Giro d’Italia special. I will tell you why. That very same coach is still my friend today. Last year, he didn’t plan to be at the Giro but he made a last-minute decision to visit me at the start of the race.
Photo LaPresse – Spada 05/05/2017 Olbia, Sassari (Italia) Giro d’Italia 2017 – 100a edizione –
Coming into the finish in Olbia, I was trying to do a leadout for Sam. I made a big effort and when I looked back, I saw I had a gap. I thought, ok, this is good because it means the Orica guys have to chase. They would lose at least one guy with this effort of chasing me down. At this point I was still not thinking I would make it to the finish.
I was suffering. But you forget the pain in the moment. When I saw the finish line, I just got so much positive energy and forgot about the pain in my legs.
It’s like when you see the sprinters at the end of the finish line. When they win, they are broken but it looks like they did nothing, they have all the energy to celebrate whereas everyone who finishes behind the winner just slumps over their bikes in exhaustion.
Lukas Pöstlberger celebrates after winning the opening stage of the 100th edition of the Giro d’Italia (Photo LaPresse – Spada
When I crossed the line, I was in complete shock. I stopped and when my teammates came by, we were just jumping around and screaming. I become the first ever Austrian to win a stage in the Giro and take the leader’s jersey. I could not believe it.
My phone exploded. It got stuck in every application. It was hanging the whole time with all the messages. I actually just put it down and didn’t touch it for two days.
What I didn’t expect was the race after the race. I got a window into everything you have to go through as the race leader. Podium celebrations, press conference, media interviews, it never ends.
The finish was around 5:30pm and I got to the hotel at 10pm only. There was no message, not relaxing time and no food. It’ hard because you have to race the next day again and all the time you spend at the podium is time you lose in the recovery. It was exhausting but I enjoyed every second of the celebrations.
I was not able to sleep that night. I only got 3 hours because this is not an everyday achievement for me, it was hard to digest what was happening.
In the end it was really good for the team. We had all the jerseys after the first stage. I had no words. The best part was that my first coach who lent my first ever bike was there to experience it. He was not able to talk at the finish. It was so emotional.
