With Cyril Barthe and Laurence Pithie, Groupama-FDJ did give it a go this Thursday in stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia. Unfortunately, the day’s very hilly profile and the long fight for the breakaway got the better of the Frenchman and the New Zealander at the front. Julian Alaphilippe eventually took a solo victory in Fano. On the other hand, an extremely flat course will take the riders to Cento for a guaranteed bunch sprint on Friday.
In the Marches, the twelfth stage of the Giro had a little something of Tirreno-Adriatico. From Martinsicuro to Fano, nearly a dozen hills featured over the 193 kilometres of the course, and some slopes promised to create real damage. It was therefore almost certain that the breakaway would be victorious, and everyone was aware of it. “The first fifty kilometres were completely flat, so it went very fast,” said Frédéric Guesdon. “Enzo followed a first attack, he kept on going for around twenty kilometres, but it didn’t work. We then got to the foot of the first hill and the punchers/climbers attacked straight away. It was Julian Alaphilippe who really opened up the race, and a large group of around twenty riders established itself in the lead.” The peloton was satisfied with the situation, but Groupama-FDJ, like other teams, had no one up front. After a few minutes of hesitation, the action then resumed, and Laurence Pithie as well as Cyril Barthe were able to enter a second group of around twenty men.
“I used all my bullets to get back”, Laurence Pithie
Following an intense chase, the first two groups almost came together. “Just before the junction, Alaphilippe went clear with Maestri,” added Frédéric. “In the back, there were other attacks, a group of nine broke away and we weren’t in there. It really came down to the legs. If the guys didn’t follow, it’s because they couldn’t. Then it was over because everyone was looking at each other, and everyone was also quite exhausted.” “It was a very hard day for me,” confessed Laurence. “Once I got in the breakaway, I didn’t really have anything left to give. I felt like I used all my bullets just to get back. Maybe that’s the accumulation of the race days we’ve had so far, and I’m starting to feel a bit of fatigue.” The Groupama-FDJ duo couldn’t therefore have an impact on the final and was even caught by the bunch, which chased some riders placed on GC. In the lead, Julian Alaphilippe went solo to grab the victory. “Given the scenario, we have no regrets,” Frédéric said. “We knew it was going to be hard, but we hoped to get through the storm and then take stock. Unfortunately, the storm took its toll, we never recovered from it, and we understood early on that we could not fight for a top spot.”
Laurence Pithie nevertheless aims to get back to the first positions on Friday in a thirteenth stage including… 200 metres of elevation gain. “The profile looks very flat tomorrow, so hopefully it’s an easy day, I can recover a little bit and then try and go for the sprint,” concluded the 21-year-old Kiwi.
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