If some were expecting an easy sprint finish in Trasacco this Thursday, they were certainly disappointed. Stage four of Tirreno-Adriatico proved extremely intense in the second half of the race, and although it did end with a sprint, it only involved a small peloton shaken by various echelons. Paul Penhoët was unable to deliver his full strength after this grueling day, while Romain Grégoire held onto his tenth place overall.
The sprinters were hoping to fight for the win on Thursday, but before approaching Trasacco, nearly 2,500 metres of elevation gain were to be climbed in the first 100 kilometres of the course. Three climbs, far from insignificant, were on the menu, and the action began right from the start. The breakaway actually took shape after around forty kilometres, with five men. The peloton initially took it easy, giving them a six-minute lead, before making a strong acceleration on the climb of Valico La Crocetta (12 km at 6%) at the halfway point. This resulted in distancing a few sprinters, reducing the gap to less than two minutes, but the race exploded even more before the long downhill. “This was exactly the scenario we had thought of”, explained Thierry. “At the top of the last climb, there was an exposed plateau, with a side wind. We knew there was a big risk that the pace would go up, whether for the general classification or to drop sprinters, and that it was therefore a terrain with echelons. That really caused chaos, and it was on.”
“We had more to lose than to win,” Thierry Bricaud
A first bunch of around twenty riders broke away after the intermediate sprint, while Romain Grégoire and his teammates joined the group after a few minutes of chasing. “The guys weren’t immediately in the first echelon, but they were all together and they came back quickly,” Thierry assured. “There was no trouble. When the first two groups came together, there were around fifty riders up front, and we had our six riders.” The fight didn’t end there though, as the breakaway maintained a small lead while another group of GC contenders tried really hard to bridge across. Quentin Pacher joined another echelon a bit later, with Filippo Ganna and Juan Ayuso, but it ended after about ten minutes. “It was good to have that small lead, the others were attentive in the back, and we knew a lot of teams would come to pull,” added Thierry. On the final lap of the circuit around Trasacco, the second peloton eventually managed to come back, bringing several favorites back in the mix.
“There was certainly an opportunity to gain a few positions overall, but everyone was a little tired in the final. There was also a potential sprint for Paul, and we were still a long way from the finish,” explained Thierry. “It was ultimately Landa’s puncture that allowed this group to come back. It was a bit of a difficult scenario to take the initiative.” Seventy riders thus regrouped to contest the final, but Mathieu van der Poel tried to anticipate the sprint by taking advantage of a small hill five kilometres from the finish. Romain Grégoire managed to follow, then Ben Healy counterattacked and caught the survivors of the breakaway, leading them until the final kilometre. However, the sprint did happen, and Olav Kooij claimed victory. “Everyone was on the limit”, said Thierry. “The 250 rainy kilometers yesterday took their toll, and we had a somewhat similar scenario today. There was a lot of fatigue in the final, as we saw in this very messy sprint. Paul didn’t sprint because he couldn’t, so there are no regrets. There’s no frustration, because it was a day where we had more to lose than to win. We’re still in the running for the general classification, we’re solid as a team, we’ve just had two good days, and that’s a good sign for the next ones.”
Twenty-first on the line this Thursday, Romain Grégoire remains in tenth place overall before two decisive stages.
