Which wasn't bad at all, but when there's a chance for the polkadot jersey, of course you want to take it. But the trio fairly shared the highly contested mountain sprints, each rider getting one point. With two points up for grabs at the finish line, that meant the mountain classification was out of reach for the moment.
But at least the team had made another effort to establish themselves as the most active and aggressiv of the race, which was an achievement, though not too valuable yet after only two stages.
And of course the stage wasn't over yet. There was still a slight chance for an upset breakaway win. However, it wasn't looking too promising. Orica for Simon Gerrans and Etixx, showing their colors as the team with the yellow jersey, kept a steady, high pace in the pack. They wouldn't take any chances.
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/UFIcaqd.png[/img-r]The pack was nervous, he could feel it. And he was, too. But Joaquim Rodriguez could count on his team. Ilnur Zakarin kept him in perfect position while Kristoff and Spilak set the pace alongside the Orica squad. The Australians had been doing the pace for almost the entire stage. Joaquim was looking around and spotted Simon Gerrans at his left, riding almost ostentatiously relaxed.
Hence it was no surprise that it was he who was quick to counter the first major attack of the day: Former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski went on the attack on the Côte d'Octeville, a small hill, 1.3 kilometers at only 4.6%.
With still over seven kilometers to the finish, Joaquim ordered his men to the front. There was no way he would follow that attack, he was no match for the duo on the flat roads towards the final ascent. That's when he wanted to leave everyone behind, not before.
But after a few minutes, he realized that it might not come to that. Alexander Kristoff did what he could, but no one was willing to help, and that wasn't enough. The final climb was coming closer, Kwiatkowski and Gerrans weren't.
So there was nothing left to do but to try and cut the losses - a podium spot was still possible. But as the pack charged to the line, Joaquim felt the same inflexibility of his muscles that had hindered him in the Ardennes. Simon Spilak led him up the ramp, but as the Slovenian looked back, Joaquim just shook his head. Today was not his day.
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/ERA0JP5.png[/img-r]The first two stages had been very uneventful for Fabio Aru, and the third shaped up to be the same. The entire team hadn't done much so far, no breakaway appearance, almost invisible - though completely safe - on the uphill finish of stage two.
Fabio sat in the first third of the pack, Vincenzo a few positions ahead of him. Sylvain Chavanel was the lone rider in front of the pack, another good performance for Direct Energie. They had impressed Fabio so far, especially considering their season prior to this.
As the stage progressed, the peloton kept riding at a slow pace. By now, they were almost an hour behind the estimated plan. But the weather kept getting worse and worse.
After a right turn, the peloton was hit by heavy crosswinds and all of a sudden, the race changed. Fabio didn't realize what happened for a few moments. All he saw were riders passing him left and right, hectically trying to keep up. As he tried to spot what was going on up front, he noticed Giant and Katusha, trying to create an echelon, and setting up Kristoff and Degenkolb.
Fabio had been inattentive. He desperately tried to hang on. Only around 60 riders left in the front group, he estimated. He couldn't afford to lose time today. Not in this way.
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/NkmosC8.png[/img-r]Dear lord, what was happening? Pierre had been riding very close to the front, but the sudden increase of pace had hit him hard nevertheless. Katusha and Giant had done a good job at that, but maybe they were a bit too late. Everyone was riding at full throttle, but there were only some 8 kilometers left. That was manageable, even for the GC riders.
Everyone was extremely hectic, domestiques were looking around to find their leader, Etixx, who themselves had been caught completely off guard, were trying desperately to set up some sort of sprint train.
Eventually, no one succeeded at that. In the last kilometers, everyone was just fighting to stay in the first 5-10 positions at any cost, there was nothing organised about it. From the corner of his eye, Pierre saw Alberto Contador charging towards the line just behind the sprinters; the man he had believed to be Kristoff's last lead out turned out to be Joaquim Rodriguez.
Crossing the line 13th, he looked around to see if everyone had made it. And it looked like it. Quintana, Froome, Nibali, Aru ... they were all there. Notably absent was only one: The yellow jersey, Michal Kwiatkowski. The stage finale had been much more eventful than anyone had expected, but in the end, at least for the GC riders, not much came of it.
For some reason, the peloton had slowed down almost completely after the intermediate sprint, and the escapees had some 10 minutes of advance with 45 kilometers to go. They wouldn't be stopped anymore. And if they kept going at this pace, Langeveld was set for the yellow jersey.
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/UFIcaqd.png[/img-r]The first few stages had been rather unspectacular, borderline boring even. Joaquim couldn't do much on stage two, held his own in the hectic of stage three, and today, things shaped up to be even more uneventful. The team had done a great job protecting him all the while supporting Alexander Kristoff with some success.
But just like yesterday, things took a turn for the worse. Having given the breakaway double digit advance, Orica suddenly decided to try and keep the yellow jersey after all. The pace picked up enormously, and that had some ramifications.
Joaquim was riding very close to the front, as usual. With six kilometers to go, the sprint preparations began. But the rain had been pouring the whole day, and in a narrow chicane, he heard a loud, ugly noise behind him.
The crash took a good 30 riders down and held up many more. But Joaquim had no time to contemplate what happened. The pace was still high, the sprinters trying to keep up, and he heard his DS rambling names in his earpiece of riders who hit the tarmac.
There weren't many guys left at the front. Mostly the top sprinters with almost no dometiques. And almost no GC riders either. Contador and Valverde had made it, but behind them a gap had opened.
Joaquim was giving it his everything to help his Norwegian friend, he knew he would return the favor sometime. As they were approaching the line, Jos Van Emden came into sight with a few bruises of himself, he had obviously crashed and got swept just a few meters from the line. Alexander took a great third place and the green jersey. But not only that. It took over 20 seconds for the rest of the pack to arrive. Joaquim couldn't really feel his legs anymore, but he was fine with that. Today was an unexpectedly successful day.
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/NkmosC8.png[/img-r]For fuck's sake. Everything had been going so well. And now, bad luck seemed to strike again. Pierre had been riding a bit too far behind, he had known that could be dangerous. But the pace had been high and the first few positions fiercely contested.
The crash had happened a few positions in front of him, he had seen it early enough, but a few riders around him hadn't been as attentive. A Lampre rider had hit him from the side, Pierre had no chance.
Many GC riders had gone down with him. They could bear the 23 seconds they all lost, their bruises would be much worse for the next days.
He had spent almost three hours at the doctor's after the race. Radiographs had been taken from almost his entire body, from his shoulders and collarbones down to his hips and knees. Luckily, nothing had been broken.
He came back to the hotel quite late and went to bed immediately. But with the bandages off to heal the wounds, his open skin stuck to the bed sheets, he was hurting all over. He kept getting up, wandering around, laying back down, but he couldn't get any sleep. At four o'clock, the fatigue finally overpowered him. Tomorrow would be a tough day.
Fourth stage all at once since I'm a bit late, I hope you don't mind that they're divided in different posts, I find it cleaner and clearer that way. The first few stages weren't too exciting with our focus on the GC riders, I tried to find a few interesting aspects. It should get more exciting as we hit the mountains, I hope you stay tuned until then
Hahaha, what the heck? I edited names and stats in the default DB because of startlists, must've had a small black out there, thanks for noticing
@ Vali, yeah, but that was really necessary after the first two stages Should be even more interesting in the mountains with the situation the crashed favorites are in now.
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/NkmosC8.png[/img-r]Pierre had gotten only about three hours of sleep last night. He had to force himself to eat enough at breakfast as he had no appetite whatsoever.
Afterwards, he visited the team doctor to get his wounds treated and patched up for the race. He was still hurting a lot, but the balm he got helped a little.
Now, with a bit more than half of the race done, he was facing the first serious climbs of the day. Up until now, the pace had been fast but steady and he built a nice rhythm, riding himself in an almost trance-like state of mind.
Pierre could only hope that the pace stayed consistent. He had no idea what he could to once the first attacks came. But he was willing to endure everything if it meant he could stay in contention for the GC after today. He would dig deep, go to his limits and beyond. His body was weakened, but his mind was stronger than ever.
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/UFIcaqd.png[/img-r]Joaquim Rodriguez was pretty much on the other end of the spectrum. He felt great and he wanted to show it. Riding very close to the front the whole day, he had gathered his team mates around him.
But they weren't the only ones there. Tinkoff and Sky wanted to show their strength as well, controlling the pace, preparing for the finale. Today was the day to put time on those injured in the crash yesterday - not the nicest way, but it was part of the sport.
Joaquim was slowly getting impatient. But he new he had to keep his cool. It wasn't the time yet. Not for him at least. As they closed in on the first category two mountain, he noticed a white and blue jersey flying past him on his left side. An FDJ rider, he thought he recognized him as Alexandre Geniez. A ballsy move, Joaquim liked that in a rider. And while this probably wouldn't have much of an impact, it was a clear sign for everyone: The show was getting on the road!
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/UFIcaqd.png[/img-r]Eventually, his impatience got the better of him. This was going way too slow, and if Joaquim wanted to precipitate a selection, it had to be now.
Without further ado, he went to the front. Not going out of the saddle yet, he just increased the pace, waiting for his rivals to react. He looked around and quickly saw the other teams' domestiques vanish from the front. The GC contenders tried to get on his wheel and Joaquim knew they wouldn't stay idle.
And it didn't take long for one of them to attack. On his right, Daniel Martin accelerated quickly.
This was what he had been waiting for. Joaquim followed him straight away and with ease. Finally, his legs responded the way he wanted them to. Quite a few riders stayed with them, but many also fell behind. They needed to keep up a high speed, then he could go on the attack again on the final climb again.
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/NkmosC8.png[/img-r]There it was. The intensification of pace he had dreaded. Now Pierre would find out what his body had left to give.
He hadn't been riding too close to the front, so he was already a few meters behind as he accelerated. His muscles were responding properly, but the wounds on his hips and shoulders screamed under the sudden movements. But it was a bit better than he had expected.
He crossed the summit a few moments behind the front group. Descents weren't his strong point, never have been, and the airflow that hit him didn't help either. But at this point, he didn't care.
He tried to blank out everything - the soreness, the worries - and only focused on the 9 riders he saw a little down the road. He rode furiously, almost as if he could ride away the pain, and miraculously, with every pedal stroke, he came a bit closer.
Finally he caught up. For a moment, he tried to catch his breath, give his mind a little pause as well. But he knew this wouldn't be the end of it. There were still a few more kilometers he had to endure.
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/XXOjrAD.png[/img-r]Fabio had missed the move. He had kept Vincenzo at the front, and when the attacks came, he tried to initiate his captain's response. But his captain didn't respond. Fabio didn't know if it was because he couldn't or because he counted on him to bring them back. Both options weren't too great.
He didn't take the time to ask, he knew what he had to do either way. He was going strong at the front, but as he looked back and saw Vincenzo drop from third position to fourth, then fifth, he started to realize that he was indeed lacking the vigor for more today.
He slowed down just a little - there was one more climb to come -, and unfortunately it didn't look like anyone else was too keen on joining him in the chase. He kept looking over his shoulder, checking if Vincenzo was alright. Fabio saw that he was trying not to show any weakness, but he knew him by now. This would be a tough final few kilometers.
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/UFIcaqd.png[/img-r]One more time. Joaquim had one last move in him. And he didn't even have to initiate it himself. A few hundred meters before the finish, Alejandro Valverde launched an attack. His compatriot Alberto Contador followed, and Joaquim did as well.
The trio had also been in the front group yesterday, the only riders of the current leading group. They would also fight for yellow today - another incentive.
There wasn't much road left to build an advantage, even though it was clear that the three were the strongest of the group today. Still, they too were at their limit, without very much energy left. They charged towards the line in step, trying to get the better of each other. Joaquim gave it all he got, but his compatriots were just a little bit stronger today.
The bigger disappointment came when he turned around. Despite all their efforts, they hadn't managed to build a gap. Not more than 10 meters behind him, Pierre Rolland crossed the line, his eyes completely empty. The Frenchman collapsed immediately, and it took him a while to get back on his feet. But Joaquim admired him for his performance today.
And for Joaquim, the stage had a happy ending after all as well. He wasn't aware of it at first, but due to his good results on the first stages, he actually took the lead in the general classification!
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/XXOjrAD.png[/img-r]For Fabio, the rest of the stage had been about damage control. All the other riders in his chasing group either had a leader up front or were leaders themselves without any helpers left, so he was left with most of the work alone.
In a final effort, he charged towards the line, trusting in Vincenzo to at least stay in the group. Every second might count at some point. Crossing the line, he saw the clock at + 52 seconds.
In the bus after the stage, Fabio felt mentally empty, and oddly unemotional. It was still a strange situation for him, having to limit himself in order to work for someone else. He couldn't sort out how he felt about it. Although he knew that he had done well, it didn't feel like an achievement. But he also wasn't angry or disappointed.
Vincenzo, who had taken a few more minutes to regenerate outside, came in and joined him. Fabio could tell he was unhappy. Of course he would be. "Thanks for today, Fabio. I appreciate that, I really do." Fabio didn't really know what to respond. He cracked a faint smile. "You'll bounce back, don't worry!" And he meant it. He was really hoping for it, too. Because otherwise, this would become a terrible, and terribly boring race for himself as well.
[img-r]https://i.imgur.com/2SChMwL.png[/img-r]"I certainly hope so, too. Yes, I'm sure, we have a good amount of opportunities left. ... Well, yes, he lost a good amount today, but Romain was never going to go for the GC anyway. ... No. Look at it this way, he'll get more leeway in the mountains. ... Alright. We'll talk again. Bye."
So this is it for the first non-flat stage. I would like to get your opinions, what do you think especially of the length (both of the whole stage and the individual posts), any aspects you think are a bit unnecessary (please really do tell, it is a bit time consuming after all ), anything you would like to hear more from?
I think length and content was good for the most part, if you are going to have to shorten a section, I'd shorten the beginning of the stage, and the Direct Energie sections.
cunego59 wrote:
So this is it for the first non-flat stage. I would like to get your opinions, what do you think especially of the length (both of the whole stage and the individual posts), any aspects you think are a bit unnecessary (please really do tell, it is a bit time consuming after all ), anything you would like to hear more from?
I really love to read the different perspectives, also (maybe even most) the Direct Energie parts - still it´s hard to follow such a splitted race report, if that one could be tighter (maybe the beginning of the stage) it would make it even easier to follow this amazing madness of thoughts
One more thing: As I said, the plan is / was to bring each stage on the day it is in RL. However with reports a bit more complex than I had anticipated, I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that in this quantity each day. I'll try, but if you had to chose, would you rather have smaller reports but keeping up with real race, or a bit more detailed, but with potentially one stage spread over two or three days?
Simon Gerrans
Michal Kwiatkowski
Alejandro Valverde
Daniel Martin
Julian Alaphilippe
Simon Spilak
Rui Costa
Alexander Kristoff
Christian Froome
Nairo Quintana
André Greipel
Oscar Gatto
Wilco Kelderman
Peter Sagan
Philippe Gilbert
I edited names and stats in the default DB because of startlists, must've had a small black out there, thanks for noticing 
Bob Jungels
