The Giro d’Italia’s second week of competition is coming to an end, but prior to the nice top finish in Piancavallo on Sunday, a 34-kilometer time trial was to cover in Veneto on Saturday. Although not having any particular ambitions for this stage 14, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team as a whole still approached the day in a conscientious way. Every rider was then able to enjoy the stage in his own way two days ahead of the second rest day.
As the day was especially important for specialists and the general classification contenders, the time trial between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene did not appear to be a major goal for the Groupama-FDJ team. However, “this is the kind of day you never take lightly,” said Sébastien Joly. “First of all, it requires a lot of preparation in terms of equipment for our technical staff. You never approach a time trial day as a hobby. You still need to be involved and serious enough, and you need everyone to be in position. In terms of logistics, we also try to organize ourselves as well as possible. On the Giro, Jussi [Veikkanen] is especially in charge of that. Then, our coach Anthony Bouillod also plans specific warm-ups. On such a day, the two of them work in pairs to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible, which did happen today. We try to follow as many riders as we can on the course by car. However, it was a city to city-kind of time trial today. Therefore, it was difficult to make rotations, and because our riders were close to each other in the overall standings, we were missing a vehicle. In such a situation, we ask the organization to follow the rider we miss a car for and we put our equipment in the car. This is something that happens quite often”.
“Everyone got a bit caught up in the game”, Sébastien Joly
Once the organizational, logistical and training aspects are well established, it’s up to the riders to step in. “The watchword today was managing the effort,” said Sébastien. “To manage it well, it was also useful to know the time limit, which was quite large today. When a rider needs to manage his effort in a time trial, it means he’s doing it with only 80/90% of his capacity. We still provide them with the radio for safety and to let them know about the turns, the climbs and the downhills. In the end, I still felt like everyone got a bit caught up in the game today. It was also made possible by the course, which was quite flat except for the steep hill at the start. Arnaud himself enjoyed it on his new time trial bike, which he has been using since the Tour du Poitou-Charentes. He was focused and had good lines. It’s important to have a bit of fun on a stage like this, and I think the guys did today. In the end, it was then a good day for us”.
At the finish, Miles Scotson, ninth in the opening time trial in Palermo, proved again the best rider of the team (32nd), while the world champion Filippo Ganna took another impressive victory. Arnaud Démare obviously kept his cyclamen jersey, but he grabbed it on the podium more two hours after completing his time trial. “We had anticipated this and had booked a hotel for Arnaud so that he could start his recovery with a massage while awaiting the protocol,” Sébastien explained. “Overall, this stage enabled us to enjoy a little shorter day than usual. It wasn’t necessarily easier, because it still required focus, but it at least allowed for a longer recovery period. Now, we have another big stage left tomorrow, in the mountains, before the rest day”.
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