Big things were expected of Fabio Duarte this season and the 27-year-old, fourth at the Giro del Trentino appears to have grown in strength as the three weeks have worn on at the Corsa Rosa. A challenge for the top ten overall has not materialised, but top ten finishes in Sestola and Savona showed what he is capable of, and Duarte – who already boasted two second-place finishes at the Giro prior to this season – has added two more to his CV since.
On both occasions, Duarte was denied on big climbs – the Pan de Montecampione and Rifugio Panarotta only by a solo escapee. Duarte’s spirited chase of Arredondo on stage 18, recovering having appeared dead and buried halfway up the final climb, showed his quality and earned a deserved second place, and while in the annals of cycling history the unlucky loser is seldom remembered, it can only be a matter of time before Duarte steps up from bridesmaid to bride.
