Tadej Pogačar (UAE Group Emirates) was not capable of get away from Jonas Vingegaard together with his anticipated assault on the San Luca climb throughout stage 2 of the Tour de France and was additionally later caught by Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Richard Carapaz (EF Training-EasyPost), however that solely made it extra disappointing for the bunch of riders who shed time.
They have been not blown away by Pogačar however it was the beginning of the sluggish drip lack of valuable seconds. The very high of the GC standings is already beginning to develop into clear after two days of racing and will probably be laborious to tug again the time misplaced on Sunday excessive of San Luca and on the quick descent to the centre of Bologna.
Pogačar and Evenepoel rapidly headed to the rostrum to gather the yellow and white jersey, whereas Vingegaard dashed to the security of his Visma-Lease A Bike bus to keep away from the risks of the massive crowds which might be allowed to wander across the space as riders are available. Pogačar once more leads the Tour de France however Evenepoel, Vingegaard and Carapaz are all on the identical time as him, their GC positions determined by their stage outcomes throughout the opening weekend.
Different riders got here in behind them, took a drink from their soigneur and disappointedly headed to their buses, fatigued by the 199.2km of laborious racing within the warmth and mulling over the implications of seconds misplaced.
Primož Roglič (Purple Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was the one one of many ‘Large 4’ GC contenders to lose time, ending in a bunch of GC hopefuls 21 seconds down on Pogačar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel and Carapaz. He mumbled a couple of phrases of disappointment in Slovenian earlier than heading to his group bus to replicate on what it meant.
Jai Hindley completed together with his new teammate Roglič, as did Aleksandr Vlasov, however neither have been capable of scale back the hole beneath 21 seconds. In Roglič’s absence, it was as much as Hindley to clarify Purple Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s day
“I believe Roglič was nonetheless fairly good,” stated Hindley. “Clearly, circumstances are actually difficult. I am blissful me and Aleksandr Vlasov have been there to assist him on the end.”
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“It is nonetheless fairly early to say what’s going to occur. Everybody’s preventing for the race with UAE once more however we’re solely two days in. There hasn’t been a lot racing but however I believe it has been fairly thrilling.”
Relying on consistency
Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL) attempting to claw again seconds on the 2024 Tour de France on stage 2 (Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
Stage 1 winner Romain Bardet (dsm firmenich-PostNL) was saying goodbye to greater than seconds. The rider was unhappy and emotional in Bologna as he realised his spell within the yellow jersey was over after simply 24 hours. He’s now fifth at six seconds again.
The Ineos Grenadiers trio of Tom Pidcock, Carlos Rodriguez and Egan Bernal all completed within the GC chase group and stay within the total battle, with out understanding who will ultimately be the group chief and who the loyal domestiques. Geraint Thomas (G) already appears to be out of the image after he was dropped early on the ultimate climb of San Luca and misplaced 6:45.
“Not precisely how we hoped, however it was harm limitation in the long run,” Pidcock stated.
“There’s going to be minutes in three weeks time, 21 seconds doesn’t suggest something. I imply, I needed to be there within the entrance, however it wasn’t a great run as much as the Tour. Not less than I might be there a bit on the finish for them and so it is alright.”
Ineos Grenadiers directeur sportif Zak Dempster, naturally, tried to see it as glass half full.
“I believe 21 seconds at this stage is not too dangerous. Clearly we might have hoped to have somebody up there, however on the identical time, I believe they managed it decently,” he stated.
“In case you’re speaking about Carlos and Egan, our protected GC guys, an explosive climb like that’s robust. We all know what Pogačar is able to in Flanders and Vingegaard’s a beast too, on the explosivity.
In the end, Dempster stated that whereas that period of time might be a giant deal in some circumstances, you could not learn an excessive amount of into it.
“The principle factor is consistency. The consistency is what counts in the long run,” stated Dempster. “Clearly that you must benefit from the massive moments, however for us as a group I believe we simply must take confidence and get again at it everyday.
“G did not have an important day. However we simply needed to see the place he was at, and he wasn’t a protected GC chief, so nothing adjustments for us. There’s loads of guys nonetheless shut on GC. Chaos might ensue and also you by no means know what’s going to occur.”
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