Second day of racing, and already a summit finish on the Giro d’Italia. On Sunday, the GC leaders battled on the slopes leading to the Santuario di Oropa, where Tadej Pogacar took victory and the pink jersey. On this day, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team tried to ride as conservatively as possible prior to the first sprint of this year’s Giro.
The fast men needed to wait and endure just one more day. After a hilly first stage in Torino, the Giro was heading to the Santuario di Oropa on Sunday for the first summit finish. The favourites were expected for a proper fight at the end of the day’s 161 kilometres, but a breakaway of five Italians first took the lead. Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan), Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost), Davide Bais (Polti Kometa), Filippo Fiorelli and Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) hit the front after some ten kilometres and the usual scenario then took place. “The day went as we planned and as we wanted,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “We have to be honest, we don’t have a team to fight on this kind of terrain, so it was more about saving energy today in anticipation of the following stages.” Before the final ascent, the peloton tackled a few climbs, and many riders did not fight to hang on. “We had done a recon of the hilly part, and we knew that we still had to be in a good position so as not to suffer too much,” added Frédéric. “Then, when it got hard for the guys, they started to sit up in order to save as much energy as possible for the days to come.”
“Our Giro does not start tomorrow, but pretty much”, Frédéric Guesdon
Enzo Paleni was able to stay in the peloton until the bottom of the final climb, but then let the GC contenders battle. “He has qualities for hilly terrain and that’s what he’ll get from next weekend,” added Frédéric. “We told him that he will have opportunities later, while we didn’t have anything to aim for today. You need to be patient on the Grand Tours. Even though it sometimes goes by quickly, it’s still three weeks of racing. You have to manage it well and make the right tactical choices.” Tadej Pogacar took the stage win and the leader’s pink jersey as a consequence. Groupama-FDJ now have their eyes set on the start of the week. “Four stages can end in a sprint and the team should be able to perform much better,” concluded Frédéric. “Our Giro doesn’t start tomorrow, but pretty much. We had to come over these first two stages which didn’t suit us. We did come over them, the group is going well, and we’re now focused on stage 3. This will be the first sprint, there are a lot of sprinters, and we have already seen that some of them are doing well. There will be a small climb four kilometre from the finish, and we did a recon of it. Then, the last kilometres will be quite flat with a long finishing straight of one kilometre. We have a team to put Laurence in good conditions and we therefore hope for a good result.”
No comment