Charly Wegelius, head directeur sportif at EF Training-EasyPost, was as shocked as anybody when Richard Carapaz rode his method into the yellow jersey on a crash-heavy closing on stage 3 on the Tour de France.
The Ecuadorian earned the coveted race lead on countback stage placings after he completed significantly higher, 24 spots or higher, than his nearest rivals within the GC standings: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Group Emirates), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), who all began the stage equal on time within the GC standings.
“We did the maths final evening. We regarded on the outcomes. So, we made a plan on how you can get as many riders between these shut rivals of Richie’s as a result of the countback, if they’re on equal time, is predicated on stage placings,” Wegelius informed NBC Sports activities.
“We knew it was dangerous; first large dash of the Tour. We knew that it was a little bit of a lottery as a result of a whole lot of that was out of our arms, however we went for it and everybody within the group did an awesome job … all of them. They did so nicely, and by chance it got here off.”
EF Training-EasyPost dedicated to retaining Carapaz in a superb place and safely towards the entrance of the sector on the run-in to Turin, which paid off within the closing chaotic kilometres. Carapaz, and about 60 riders, managed to keep away from a crash with 2.2km to go, which induced separations within the area.
He completed 14th on the day, whereas Pogačar completed thirty eighth, Evenepoel in fortieth place, and Vingegaard completed 68th, giving Carapaz the yellow jersey. Anybody caught up in or behind the crash was given the identical time because the stage winner, Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty).
“It was scary, however we had a plan, and we needed to make it work. At first, I used to be eager about sitting up and dropping time in order that I may go within the breakaway within the subsequent few days,” mentioned Carapaz’s teammate Neilson Powless in a post-race interview.
“Ultimately, we had a much bigger objective in thoughts, so I went again up entrance to scrub Richie’s wheel and push some wind for him if he wanted it. We nonetheless had 4 guys round him with three Ks to go, so it was an ideal state of affairs for us.”
Carapaz, the reigning Olympic highway champion and former Giro d’Italia winner, got here into the Tour de France with a query mark over his kind. He lately recovered from accidents sustained in a crash that compelled him to desert the Tour de Suisse after which took extra break day the bike attributable to sickness within the days main as much as the race.
“The situation that Richie is displaying is kind of a shock. He principally had 10 days off his bike within the run-up to the Tour, which is not actually supreme,” Wegelius mentioned. “He shocked us on the primary stage, shocked us within the second, and now he is in yellow. That is biking, I assume.”
Carapaz, Pogačar, Evenepoel and Vingegaard stay on the identical time on GC after stage 3, with Primož Roglič (Pink Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) at 21 seconds because the race heads into stage 4 from Pinerolo to Valloire. The 139km stage will embody climbs over Sestriere and Galibier.
“We’ll hold our ft on the bottom,” Wegelius mentioned. “Bologne is one factor; the Alps is one other. We’re going to take pleasure in tonight and take tomorrow because it comes.”
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