The quiet man of Italian cycling is where he wants to be. Nine days into the Giro d'Italia, Domenico Pozzovivo (NTT Pro Cycling) is in fourth place overall, 53 seconds behind Maria Rosa's Joao Almeida (Detunink-Quick Step).

In Roccaraso on Sunday, Pozzovivo was the strongest overall contender, as he was on Mount Etna in stage 3. When the pink jersey group split in the final 400 meters, the 37-year-old Pozzovivo held his own. He conceded six seconds to Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), but was eight seconds ahead of his former teammate Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo).

"The goal now is to keep fighting for a very good overall," Pozzovivo said in a video conference on Monday's rest day.

"At the start I was thinking about a top-10 finish, but with the way things are going I think I can do even better and beat my best Giro finish of fifth."

Pozzovivo's previous fifth-place finishes in the Giro were in 2014 and 2018. Both were podium finishes at the Giro del Trentino (later Tour de Alps) and a top-five finish at Liège-Bastogne-Liège just before the Corsa Rosa.

The preparation for this Giro was more difficult, given that Pozzovivo's last race was the Tour de France. In that Grand Tour, he was forced to abandon before stage 10 after injuring his elbow in a first-day crash caused by a fan who leaned out into the road to take a selfie.

Pozzovivo injured the same elbow in a violent crash during training in August 2019, also suffering a broken leg and collarbone. Initially fearing his career was over, he announced on New Year's Eve that he was transferring from Bahrain-Merida to NTT Pro Cycling. It has been a long road, he explains.

"After the accident last year, all I wanted to do was to get back to my original level. After the Giro, I will undergo further elbow surgery." The road to being able to do this was not short, but with a lot of passion, he was finally able to return to the level he wanted to be.

"I feel good and I've been feeling good this week. With the support of the team, I am happy with where I am at in GC."

Pozzovivo and his NTT teammates are riding this Giro amid considerable uncertainty after it was confirmed that the team's title sponsor will not return in 2021. Pozzovivo is one of five NTT riders who had signed contracts for next year, but all were told they could look for work elsewhere for next season.

"I'm already not thinking about next year," Pozzovivo said Monday. "In a race as important as the Giro, it's important to focus on just that, and a year ago I was in a much worse position than I am now." That has been a positive energy going into this year.

Pozzovivo was surrounded by team manager Bjarne Riis at Monday evening's press conference. He admitted last week that the search for a replacement sponsor has been difficult. According to the Danish press, Riis and his longtime business partner, Lars Thayer Christensen, were to become the team's owners starting this year.

"I think everyone knows that the coronavirus has not helped at all in finding sponsors in any sport. That's no secret. We all struggle with it."