The Germans have a word for laughing at the misfortunes of others: ‘Schadenfreude’. Cyclo isn’t certain if the Italians have a similar one, but if they do then we suspect that Lampre-Merida rider Filippo Pozzato may be all-too painfully aware of it after an embarrassing gaffe at the Roma Maxima race at the weekend. Misjudging his overall position, the Italian assumed he was the winner of the rebranded semi-classic (although in its 75th edition it has previously been raced as the Giro del Lazio), and threw the traditional arms-out victory pose before slowly realising that Ag2r-La Mondiale’s Blel Kadri has crossed the line some 37seconds ahead of him. Speaking to reporters post-race Pozzato commented, ‘I put my arms up because I thought I’d won. When I saw that my soigneur was hiding instead of celebrating, I knew there was something wrong…’
In his (partial) defense rider-radios were banned at the event, something he was quick to point out but gracious enough not to blame: ‘Most sports are happy to accept the advantages of new technology, but cycling likes to ignore them. But this isn’t the moment for a debate about radios. I made a mistake.’ Either way, we can’t take a solid-second place away from him and we do thank him for raising a smile with this video of his misfortune from EuroSport.
