Romain Grégoire’s overall top-10 was just a matter of a few seconds on Saturday morning, before the queen stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. Unfortunately, it slipped through his fingers on the final climb of Frontignano, which ended this sixth stage. Twenty-second at the summit, 1 minute 29 seconds behind winner Juan Ayuso, the French rider dropped to fifteenth place overall on the eve of the final stage. In San Benedetto del Tronto, the sprinters should have the final say.
It was after 163 kilometres of racing, but above all 7,600 metres of climbing at an average gradient of 8%, that the Tirreno-Adriatico general classification was to be determined on Saturday. Also, while numerous small hills featured on the course between Cartoceto and Frontignano, an almost complete peloton was expected at the bottom of the final climb for the big fight between the leaders. Eight riders still tried to anticipate in this “queen” stage, but although their lead reached five minutes, the bunch did what was necessary in the final third of the race to come back. By the time the day’s decisive climb was tackled, the gap was down to just a minute and a half. “We knew it was going to come down to a one-climb battle with the main favorites, and that’s exactly what happened,” said Thierry Bricaud. “The plan was to do the best we could with Romain. We knew it was going to be tough, but it all depended on how the battle between the main favorites would unfold. In the end, it was a really fast pace from the bottom, and everyone quickly ended up where he should have”.
“A big disappointment,” Romain Grégoire
Repositioned by his teammates on the first slopes, Romain Grégoire followed the sustained tempo for about three kilometres of ascent, then was forced to take his own pace while Juan Ayuso attacked from the front. “He fought well, but when you see that Ayuso wins solo, it is clear that it was truly a climber’s terrain,” said Thierry. At the summit, the young Frenchman crossed the line in 22nd place, 1 minute 29 seconds behind the Spaniard, also the new leader of the race. “It’s a big disappointment,” said Romain. “I did feel like my legs weren’t great the last two days, but I was hoping things would be better today. In the end, I didn’t have a great day, so I tried to cope with the climb as best I could, but the result doesn’t live up to the team’s and my personal expectations.” Overall, he slipped down to fifteenth place on Saturday. “We’re disappointed for the riders and for Romain, because we know he deserves better than this, but that’s sports, and we have to deal with it,” concluded Thierry. “It’s just frustrating because they rode well all week, and he hasn’t been rewarded as he should have.”
On Sunday, a sprint will very likely conclude Tirreno-Adriatico in San Benedetto del Tronto.
