The day after Paul Penhoët’s third place in Tirreno-Adriatico, Romain Grégoire also secured a stage podium on Wednesday in the longest day of the Italian race. After 240 very wet kilometres, and after showing himself on the final climb, the Frenchman eventually snatched third place in a reduced bunch sprint. He now sits tenth overall.
For some people, this was a rehearsal for Milano-Sanremo. Although the third stage of Tirreno-Adriatico didn’t reach the 300-kilometer mark, it still featured almost 250 kilometres including the neutral start. In addition, the various climbs throughout the course brought the day’s elevation gain to over 3,000 metres. Yet, that wasn’t all, as the weather proved tough from Follonica to Colfiorito. “It’s the worst day a rider could imagine,” claimed Thierry Bricaud. “More than 240 kilometres, with rain and cold, because it was just ten degrees… These were the worst conditions we could have experienced, so a huge respect to the riders”. “The day’s big challenge was the rain and the 250 kilometers rather than the speed of the peloton,” confirmed Romain Grégoire. “If you dressed properly, it was doable. The day went well, even if it was far from a pleasure cruise.” In these circumstances, there were few attempts of breakaways. Davide Bais and Lorenzo Conforti went for it in the first part of the race but were caught shortly after the halfway point. Once the intermediate sprint was passed, around sixty-five kilometres from the finish line, Dries De Bondt and Andrea Pietrobon also went on the attack and were able to gain a three-minute lead.
“I don’t regret trying”, Romain Grégoire
The peloton only got going before the final climb, 18 kilometres long with an average slope of 3%, but with the beginning and the end being much more demanding. “Because the day was long and tiring, we thought the final would unfold like a Classic, and that’s what happened,” Thierry added. “So we asked Clément and Paul, in particular, to position Romain before the bottom of the climb, because we knew it would be difficult for the sprinters to survive. Then it was up to Romain to do his thing.” From the first slopes, the peloton was reduced by half, then the fugitives were caught after the long false-flat section. Finally, in the last four kilometres of climbing, the gradients increased again, and the attacks immediately came. After closing a few splits, Romain Grégoire actively joined the fight. “We knew it was going to be an open race and that a lot of teammates would be missing,” explained Thierry. “Carapaz attacked, Romain followed, and then we were off. It was a good move from him. It enabled him to take confidence and get into the mix of things”. “It was a very tactical climb,” said Romain. “I followed a great attack by Carapaz that could have been interesting, but large groups often get the better of attackers on climbs like this. I don’t regret trying.”
“A satisfying day”, Thierry Bricaud
The rider from Besançon pushed on alongside the Ecuadorian for a few hundred metres, before other GC contenders bridged across, and the peloton bunched up a bit thanks to a less steep section. Valentin Madouas made a quick attempt at the top, four kilometres from the finish, but it was Filippo Ganna who then really threatened a group finish. The Italian was caught just before the flamme rouge, and a 50-rider sprint set up in a messy way. “I was on Pidcock’s wheel at 500 meters, we moved up on the right side with speed while the left part was a bit closed in,” said Romain. “Only Vendrame managed to get out of there and he was really fast.” In Tom Pidcock’s slipstream, Romain Grégoire then sprinted to third place on the line. “He was a bit behind when the sprint started, but Andrea Vendrame is fast, so it’s not particularly surprising to see him win,” said Thierry. “Being beaten by Pidcock isn’t shameful either. He did a good sprint, he’s where he belongs, and that’s promising for the upcoming stages. Apart from the fact that he took confidence and is back in the general classification as we expected, we saw that Valentin was going well, and that Quentin was up there too. For us, it was a satisfying day.”
Thanks to the four bonus seconds he collected, and the selection carried out beforehand, Romain Grégoire gained thirteen positions overall and sits tenth at the end of this third stage. On Thursday, the sprinters should be back in action. “Given the sprint he did yesterday, we can have great ambitions with Paul, then there will be two very important days on Friday and Saturday for the general classification,” concluded Romain. “If my legs are good, I’ll try to keep this top 10, or even go for better, and above all, not have any regrets on Sunday.”
