Germany's Steinhauser bids to cause another shock at Giro d'Italia
The Lidl Deutschlandtour logo is reflected in the sunglasses of German rider Georg Steinhauser from the EF Education - Easypost team before the start in Heilbronn. Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
Germany's Georg Steinhauser gained praise from 2024 champion Tadej Pogačar when winning a mountain stage in last year's Giro d'Italia and is bidding to repeat the trick in this edition despite a troubled build-up.
The 23-year-old took stage 17 last year, his biggest success to date, after an impressive solo ride up the Passo Brocon. Slovenian Tour de France champion Pogačar, who is not competing in the Giro this year, said at the time that the German will be a "great rider" and is one to watch.
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"Of course it was cool to get recognition from such a superstar. It may not be an actual accolade, but at least it's an honour," Steinhauser told dpa before the start of the 108th edition of the Giro on Friday in Albania, a race first.
"Last year was important for me to see that I can really achieve something cool in my career."
His former uncle is German cycling icon Jan Ullrich, who has admitted to doping during his career but is now back running a podcast after personal problems.
Steinhauser sees the fact that Ullrich is now back in the public eye after many negative headlines as a positive thing.
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"I think that's fine, because in my opinion he's still a very big name in German cycling," he said.
The EF Education - EasyPost rider struggled in training for a race which will pass through the Vatican on its final stage on June 1 as a tribute to the late pope Francis.
"The preparation was a bit mixed," he said, with a knee problem causing the most problems.
Steinhauser is scheduled to help former Giro winner Richard Carapaz from Ecuador, but hopes to shine again himself in the late mountain stages.
"I should be relatively competitive again in the final week," he surmised.
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