On the “Strade Bianche” stage this Thursday at the Giro, the riders experienced quite a fast race. The day’s breakaway was only formed after two hours of fierce fight, and three riders managed to hold off the peloton all the way to Rapolano Terme. Pelayo Sanchez took the victory, while Lewis Askey (16th) and Enzo Paleni (20th) finished in a reduced pack, thirty seconds behind. Tomorrow, the first individual time trial of the 2024 Giro will be on the menu.
In a 100% Tuscan stage, there was always going to be some gravel. From the Adriatic coast, at Torre del Lago, the peloton headed south-east this Wednesday, beyond Siena, to reach Rapolano Terme after 180 kilometres of racing and three sectors of “Strade Bianche”. The second part of the stage being very hilly, a lot of riders aimed for the day’s break, but the first part of the course being flat, no one managed to get clear before the climb towards Volterra. The riders of Groupama-FDJ also joined the fight, but it didn’t prove successful. “We tried in the first seventy kilometres, then it wasn’t really our terrain anymore, and the breakaway went,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. Everything got clearer in the first hills, the peloton reduced quite a bit and seven men took the lead around halfway: Julian Alaphilippe, Kaden Groves, Luke Plapp, Pelayo Sanchez, Andrea Vendrame, Matteo Trentin and Filippo Fiorelli. After an unbroken two-hour fight, the peloton slowed down slightly and the breakaway was able to get a three-minute gap before the first sectors, located fifty kilometres from the finish. “From there, we just followed,” confessed Frédéric.
“I’ll take the positive out of today,” Lewis Askey
After the first eight kilometres of “white roads”, Lewis Askey and Enzo Paleni were still in the peloton, which got smaller due to the very sustained tempo of Ineos Grenadiers. The push didn’t continue, however, and the breakaway regained ground before the third and final sector located with eighteen kilometres to go. Alaphilippe, Plapp and Sanchez kept a minute lead and headed towards the finish, while the peloton was only made up of around forty men. The two youngsters from Groupama-FDJ were still holding on to their position. “I always like riding this kind of stage,” said Lewis. “It was almost a Classic. To be honest, at the briefing this morning, I wasn’t really confident that I could be there in the final, but in the end, I had good legs. I always found myself in the first peloton and I knew that the last climb suited me well, so I started to believe in it after getting through the second sector.” After the third, the peloton tackled the short but explosive climb of Serre di Rapolano (700m at 10%), located four kilometres from the finish. Some favourites accelerated, but everything got back together after the summit. In the front, the leading trio kept enough of a gap to fight for victory in the slight uphill finish, and Pelayo Sanchez claimed victory.
Thirty seconds later, Lewis Askey took sixteenth place of the day in the peloton. “I was too nice in the final and I lost places in the chicane,” explained the British rider. “After that I was blocked and couldn’t sprint. Fortunately it wasn’t for the win but I’m obviously disappointed with myself. That said, I will take the positive out from today. In the future, I’ll start this kind of stage knowing that I have a good chance of coming into the finish with a small group for the win.” “It’s not a bad day for us, since Lewis and Enzo finished in the first group,” added Frédéric. “With a little more luck, and with more self-confidence, Lewis could easily have claimed a top-10. It’s a bit of a shame. He was too nice and perhaps lacked a bit of experience, but he fought well all day. Enzo was never in trouble, even at the top of the first climb. He was there, despite what he did yesterday. He shows that he is in good condition, and I think there will still be great opportunities for him.” Friday, the stage might be less interesting for the French squad, since a long time trial of 40 kilometres towards Perugia is on the program. “Enzo will perhaps try to do it properly, thinking about the future, but the others will mostly have to recover because a great stage awaits us on Sunday”, punctuated Frédéric.
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