Second Grand Tour of the season, for once, the Giro d’Italia started on Saturday with quite a special time trial in Sicily. Between Monreale and Palermo, the riders had to tackle a mostly-descending route and also experienced some different meteorological conditions. Groupama-FDJ’s Miles Scotson seized the opportunity to record a nice top 10 in this inaugural time trial.
“To do the perfect ride today was difficult for anybody”, Miles Scotson
“Here we go, it’s on!” said an enthusiastic Arnaud Démare on Saturday afternoon, after completing his time trial in the streets of Palermo. The Giro 2020, postponed from May to October in this particular season, is officially underway indeed. Although The Grand Départ in Budapest is longer relevant, the inaugural time trial was still maintained, but on Sicilian roads. “It was a very special one,” Sébastien Joly recalled. “It was going uphill for a kilometre into a pretty picturesque village (Monreale) and then there was a very long descent back to Palermo. It was also very special because of the wind. There was almost a storm last night, and it was still blowing very hard this morning. During the recon, the guys were descending at almost 100 km/h with their TT bikes. It was very, very fast”. “The first goal was to get to the line safely,” said Swiss Kilian Frankiny, who was the first rider from the team to start today’s stage. “It was better to lose 10-20 seconds in than to crash”.
As the wind was still blowing during the first half of the afternoon, Miles Scotson had to deal with it after he started around 2pm. “It was blowing a little less strongly, and the riders were not that fast either in the downhill because they had to manage their effort”, explained Sébastien. “There was still a very exposed part when entering Palermo, with a strong side wind. I was following Miles and he was quite heckled in that portion”. However, the Australian did stay upright and went off to set the provisional fifth fastest time on the line. “It wasn’t perfect,” analysed the Aussie straight away, “but I did what I wanted to today, which was to go out hard rather than say I did not start fast enough. In the end, I think it was too hard because I really suffered in the last three kilometers. That being said, I think it was better to explode than say ‘I did not go hard early’. It was a pretty technical time trial and there was a lot of wind, which made it very dangerous. It was super technical to judge, and I think to do the perfect ride today was difficult for anybody.”
“This time trial shows Miles’ progression”, Sébastien Joly
After all the 2020 Giro’s riders completed the stage, Miles Scotson only lost four places, eventually ending up ninth on the day. “It’s a very good performance for him and for the whole team,” said Sébastien. “This gives a good momentum, it allows us to start the right way. Everyone was very happy. This time trial shows his progression since last year. His role has really evolved since the 2019 Giro, where he would ride early on for the team. Now, his mission is to put the train in the right conditions in the races’ finale. He also shows all his qualities in this role, and he is important for us”. The former French time trial champion Benjamin Thomas was another card for the team today, but he experienced different weather conditions and therefore could not aim for a high result. “I think the wind made big differences,” said the Frenchman. “I spent the afternoon watching riders ‘dancing’ on the bike, but the wind really calmed down in the end. I almost had none, and that was almost a disadvantage today. It’s a missed opportunity but there are still two time trials”.
As for the current French – road – champion Arnaud Démare, he took it easy today. “When we saw some riders being pushed around by the wind, we told Arnaud not to take too many risks, because the goal today was above all to get the Giro going”, said Sébastien. “So the goal has been achieved”. “It was a nice time trial and I think I was quite lucky with regard to the wind,” said Arnaud. “The legs were good but not exceptional. I quickly found myself quite far from Miles’ times, so I didn’t push hard.” On Sunday, however, the French sprinter could probably test himself in the uphill finish in Agrigento. “I’ll try,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll make it, but there won’t be a sprint the next day, so I’ll give everything”. “It will allow him to see where he stands physically speaking,” concluded Sébastien. “It won’t be a big set-up from the team though, just a little bit of positioning according to his day’s feelings”.
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