A crucial stage loomed on Friday on the roads of the Tour de France for the GC contenders. But for Stefan Küng, the time trial between Nuits-Saint-Georges and Gevrey-Chambertin was also particularly important. For his fourth official ride on the Wilier Triestina Supersonica SLR, the Swiss specialist had great ambitions, despite a course which also suited the favorites. A little more than twenty-five kilometres were indeed to be covered, flat at the beginning and at the end, but with a decisive climbing portion halfway through. Long before the former double European champion, Lenny Martinez set the provisional fastest time shortly before 2 p.m., with a mark of 31’30. “I didn’t do it 100%,” said the young climber. “I just got carried away a bit in the climb, then I tried to ride with speed in the final.” His teammate David Gaudu rode a relatively similar time trial around 3 p.m. “I’m happy with the legs,” said the Frenchman. “I felt I could push when I wanted to. I didn’t expect to get back to this level so quickly. The first two days were difficult physically after Covid. The breakaway to Valloire gave me confidence, and today is another step in the right direction.”

As David Gaudu was completing the course, Stefan Küng was tackling it at 3:05 p.m., with the Swiss champion’s jersey on his shoulders. He lived up to his status at the first timing point, where he set the best time ahead of Victor Campenaerts and Kévin Vauquelin. Unfortunately, not so long after, things got a bit wrong for him. “Right after the hill, while picking up speed, the chain dropped off and it actually took me a while to put it back on,” Stefan explained. “I decided to put a double chainring in order to be able to turn my legs faster in the climb. When I went on to the bigger gear again, it just didn’t go well. Maybe I hit a hole at that moment.” Without stopping, the Swiss man manipulated his chain to put it back. The seconds seemed like an eternity, and his momentum was stopped right away. “When you stop your effort, it’s difficult to start again at the same pace straight away,” he said. “It broke my rhythm. I tried to get back into it in the end, but it was difficult.” At the second timing point, he found himself around fifteen seconds behind Vauquelin and Campenaerts. He then managed to regain ground on the downhill, but it didn’t prove enough at the finish, as he came eight seconds behind the two men.

Much later, the favorites started, and six of them placed themselves in front of him. Stefan Küng eventually had to settle for tenth place on the day. “The time trial doesn’t lie and unfortunately that’s not what we were hoping for,” he said. “You can have the best bike in the world, but at the end of the day, you need for everything to come together. The two tests before the Olympic Games did not go as we wanted, and we will do everything to make sure that this does not happen in Paris.”It’s very disappointing given all the work that has been done,” confirmed Benoît. “I think we could have made it to the podium without this incident, but unfortunately, mechanicals are part of the sport.” In addition to Stefan Küng, Romain Grégoire delivered an excellent performance for his first time trial in the Tour de France. He took twentieth place, 1’36 behind winner Remco Evenepoel. “He was really committed and focused from this morning,” added Benoît. “The rest of the team was too, and that shows the good condition of our riders.” Tadej Pogacar kept his yellow jersey, and before the dirty roads stage around Troyes on Sunday, a bumpy day looms on Saturday. “The weather will be the real challenge tomorrow,” concluded Benoît. “It should be a sprint, but we will still need to be vigilant at the start. If there are moves, we will have to be there.”

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