Primoz Roglic got the flu at the begging of the month and he was declared unfit to take part in the race by the team's doctors. This meant that Robert Gesink and Laurens De Plus would be giving the leadership of the team as they prepare for the Ardennes classics.
The best stage for the team came in the fourth stage when Gesink set up a very high pace on the final climb and managed to distance himself with De Plus and De Tier from the rest of the pack who got caught by surprise as they were expecting a sprint despite the climb behind very near the finish line. It was De Plus who took the stage win, while Gesink moved into the leader's jersey.
Gesink leads his team-mates on the downhill
Things didn't go as smooth for Jumbo in the next stage, the queen stage of the race as both Gesink and De Plus found themselves in trouble and dropped out of the overall top 10. It was Simon Yates who claimed the stage and the leader's jersey.
Yates had also won the opening time-trial with quite a gap over everyone else. Even though this time he won a sprint of for at the finish (Fuglsang, Bardet and Kelderman) it looked like the race was his to lose.
Simon Yates - the strongest man on Arrate
But it wasn't meant for be for Yates. The Briton got a very bad day in the last stage of the race and was not able to follow the best riders of the day. All of the other performers on Arrate were though and this saw Yates almost drop from the podium, with Romain Bardet claiming the overall win.
Kwiatkowski won the final stage, which surprisingly decided the GC
Last Sunday Tony Martin led the pack over the first pass of Oude Kwaremont. This Sunday he was the first rider in the pack over the cobblestones Trounee d'Arenberg. Jumbo seemed ready to race at this point but with neither leader having a good daily form, there was a long race ahead of them
Today's breakaway had no chance against the pack with no big names present in it. There were very few attacks in the race all together. The first major thing to happen in the race was a crash at the end Mons-en-Pevel sector which involved Stuyven, Teunissen and Stannard.
They would make it back eventually to the front group but Teunissen didn't have enough energy left to help Van Aert, who was struggling himself to keep up with the pace of the strongest riders in the race
Jens Debusschere and Sep Vanmarcke made the first big move of the day on Carrefour de l'Arbre, getting a decent advantage over the rest of the favorites. This proved not to be the winning move though as they were caught on the asphalt section between Gruson and Willems a Hem.
On Willems a Hem, Debusschere's team-mate, Nils Politt tried to take the race on his own. But once again what looked like a strong and potentially decisive move was annihilated by a strong chasing group
This meant that we will see a eight men sprint on the Roubaix velodrome. The riders in the front group were: O. Naesen, S. Vanmarcke, G. Van Avermaet, N. Politt, D. Van Baarle, M. Van der Poel, P. Sagan and J. Debusschere. Van Avermaet would surely love to make the double but there are a lot of good sprinters in this group as opposed to what he faced last week in De Ronde
Debusschere were the first to open the sprint, with the other two strong sprinters in the group, Van der Poel and Sagan right in his wheel. The Belgian tried to surprise the other two but they were very sharp to respond
And it was Peter Sagan who crossed the finish line with his hands up. Mathieu Van der Poel had to settle for second in the end, while Debusschere managed to hang on to a still very impressive third place
The Ardennes classics seasons starts without Julian Alaphilippe who is not fit to race due to an injury and will miss the following two classics as well. Meanwhile a rather odd decision by the Coredon Circus team management was to not bring the Dutch Champion, Mathieu Van der Poel here.
The many climbs we had throughout the day stretched the peloton quite a bit, but surprisingly we barely saw any attacks that tried to take advantage of the terrain. Jakob Fuglsang tried to with on his own with 10 kilometers before the finish, but Dimension Data had plenty of riders left in the group behind to organized a chase and catch him
With Fuglsang caught and without any other attacks we saw a group of 25 in front at the foot of Cauberg. Fuglsang was in the first row, closely followed by Valverde, Landa and De Plus, who was trying to put Van Aert in a good position for the final
Fuglsang, Lambrecht, Valgren and Landa were the strongest riders going up, but no one was able to make any gaps which meant the winner will be decided in a sprint
And it was Michael Matthews who came out of the nowhere inside the last kilometer to take the victory ahead of Alejandro Valverde, who himself seemed to struggle on Cauberg but eventually found his speed in the last kilometer. Van Aert lead Jumbo to a more than honorable fifth place
Nothing was going to stop the tradition of the race being decided on Mur de Huy today. Not even Team Ineos' Wout Poels who tried to go solo inside the last 10 kilometers, but his attack was short lived
Robert Gesink knows how important positioning is on the final climb and with three kilometers to go he moved to the front of the group, bringing with him the three Jumbo riders that will got at it today: Laursen De Plus, George Bennet and Wout Van Aert
At the foot of Mur du Huy, the Jumbo riders were very well place in the front row side by side with Bernal and Poels of Ineos. Formolo, Woods and Valverde were closely following, while Ion Izagirre was also there but Fuglsang a little further back
The Ineos duo slipped down the group as we entered the final kilometer of the race. Davide Formolo was now pacing the group, with De Plus and Alejandro Valverde right behind him
As we approach the final corner of the climb, the situation at the front is still pretty much the same, with a few others such as Dyland Teuns and Fuglsang now starting to move towards the front of the group. Formolo and Valverde are looking very strong at the moment, while Fuglsang still seems to be too far behind despite gaining a few places
Formolo has been leading the entire climb and now it seems to be catching up with him as Dylan Teuns and Alejandro Valverde seem to have more energy left as they attempt to go past him. George Bennett also looks like he has enough left in the tank for one last acceleration a little further behind the front guys
Formolo was strong enough to keep Valverde behind him, but not Teuns and the Belgian gets the biggest win of his career. Bennett finished 5th, a very good performance after a bad day at Amstel a few days ago, with the other two Jubmo riders also finishing inside the top 10
Davide Formolo felt really good today and he tried to take the race on his own with 20 kilometers to go. Despite what looked like a very strong move, Davide was caught by the chasing group before the final climb of the day
The attack cost Formolo quite a lot and the Italia saw himself in trouble on Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons as he was struggling to keep up with the front group. Perhaps waiting to make his move here would have been a better choice
While Formolog was struggling at the back of the group, three riders went clear from the main group: Michael Matthews, Jakob Fuglsang and Matteo Trentin. A very strong group which would make it all the way to the finish
Fuglsang seemed content with a just a podium today as he was happy to lead the way for the other two, both better sprinters than him, into the final kilometer
It was a fantastic battle between Matthews and Trentin in the final kilometer but the Australian didn't have enough to add another crown next to his Amstel one as Trentin is the first rider across the finish line in La Doyenne 2019!
For Jumbo-Visma it was a day to forget with all of our riders missing out on the main breaks in the pack throughout the day and always caught on the wrong foot. The best finisher of the day was Robert Gesink in 34th.
Tom Dumoulin put his fingerprint on the race right from the prologue, which he won for one second in front of Geraint Thomas, while Primoz Roglic finished in 5th, 3 seconds down. All other stages failed to have a big impact on the race even the queen stage which was the mountainous stage four.
Despite some brave riding from Roglic on stage four, the Slovenian was not able to get away from the rest of the favorites and we saw a group of 18 riders coming together to the finish line. Gallopin claimed the stage win in front of Roglic, which thanks to the bonus seconds moved in front of Dumoulin in the GC, but failed to get the yellow jersey as Thomas finished third and the Ineos rider was given the yellow jersey despite having the same time as Primoz.
Gallopin barely beats Roglic to claim the victory in the queen stage
Roglic did move into the leader's jersey the next day when he finished the stage in front of Geraint Thomas. Both were starting the final time - trial with a 3 second advantage over Dumoulin. But even the yellow jersey was not enough to be able to keep up with Tom Dumoulin in the final time - trial who was one level above everyone else. Roglic did finish second though, with Thomas taking third after a disappointing time - trial.
Dumoulin was unstoppable against the clock in Romandie
After a rather unsatisfactory start of the race, Steven Kruijswijk found his legs as the race went one and was able to give Roglic a helping hand in the fourth stage, while finishing in the favorites group himself. Kruijswijk did very well on the final TT then to secure himself a 6th place in the general classification.
Very interesting so far. I really enjoy your reporting framework. Hard classics didn't go too well, but on the easier ones you almost dominate. Also in the stage races some very deep results, I like that a lot!
I think I'm still not getting the right timing in the harder races or maybe I'm just not very good at it, while in the easier more ones more often than not it comes down to a sprint where I usually know what I have to do.
It's a massive start list in terms of GC riders in the first Grand Tour of the year. And if the list of leaders wasn't impressive enough when looking at some team's rosters it makes you want to pack your bags and go home.
Roglic will be leading the team here and I was hoping for a podium, but now I'd happily take a top 5, heck even a top 10 seems good enough looking at that startlist. The only upside of this might be that Kruijswijk might face a more facile line up at the Tour de France with so many quality riders here.
Movistar are lead here on paper by Quintana, but with Carapaz, Valverde and Soler also it the team it feels like the Colombian will have to win the internal battle before he can focus on outside rivals.
Bernal and Thomas lead Ineos but with De La Cruz and Sivakov also in the team they definitely don't come up short of helpers either, while Sunweb has brought all their Dutch power to help Dumoulin here with Kelderman and Oomen.
Mitchelton is another impressive team here lead by the Yates brothers, who can count on the fantastic support of Chaves, Haig and Nieve.
Edited by alexkr00 on 15-07-2019 19:45
The 2019 Giro starts with an individual time - trial. It's not a long one but with a very steep climb at the end we are set to see some interesting time gaps between the favorites from the very first stage of the race.
Adam Yates was among the early starters and he set up a very good early time of 15'02 which put him into the provisional lead. A little while later his twin brother would put in a very similar performance, just 2 seconds slower than Adam.
Shortly after Adam, Max Schachmann started. The German was one of the stage favorites on paper but he didn't manage to beat Adam's time, finishing 3 seconds slower. His team leader, Buchmann would register the same time later, while another Bora rider, Rafal Majka would turn in one of the best performances of the day later in the day.
Geraint Thomas, one of the favorites for the pink jersey this year, was also among the early starters and he set up a time which would see him spend a lot of the day in the leader's sit. He was 3 seconds faster than Yates.
With Gesink failing to beat Thomas' time by one second, it was time for another Jumbo rider to challenge G's time. And De Plus didn't disappoint as he stopped the clock 2 seconds earlier than Thomas
Despite almost always failing when it comes to Grand Tours, Richie Porte always finds himself on the favorites list when he starts one. Today he got a decent start, 10 seconds slower than De Plus.
Thibaut Pinot seems to be enjoying the Giro more than the Tour sometimes. Not today though as he finsihed 21 seconds slower than De Plus.
But Pinot's rider is quickly forgotten as Primoz Roglic comes to the finish line right after him. And it's a brilliant time by the Slovenian - 16 seconds faster than his team - mate! Definitely one of the candidates for the stage win today.
Miguel Angel Lopez also had a good ride but his time fades when comparing it to Roglic's time. 18 seconds slower than the Slovenian, same time as Geraint Thomas
Another Colombian was expected to finish after Lopez - Egan Bernal. And the young Colombian surprised everyone by beating his team - mate, Geraint Thomas, and being the fastest Ineos rider of the day, 17 seconds behind Roglic though.
Time - trials are not Quintana's favorite part of cycling and today was not different. The Movistar rider stopped the clock 31 slower than Roglic. Not his worst rider, but definitely not his best either.
Dumoulin had no problems beating Roglic earlier in Romandie, but it looks like our Slovenian learned something from that last race as this time he is the fastest of the two! Dumoulin puts in a good performance but it's only enough for second place, 7 seconds behind Roglic.
The last rider to start today was Vincenzo Nibali but the Bahrain rider was nowhere near the top two riders today, 28 seconds slower than Roglic, which means that Jumbo-Visma has the first pink jersey of the race!
Plenty of riders wanted to go in the breakaway today and as a result we didn't have a clear group in front of the race until after the first climb of the day. The stake for this breakaway? The blue jersey.
And it seemed like quite an important stake especially for the small Italian teams as in a group of 7 riders Neri Sottoli had three, while Nippo had 2. It was Giovanni Lonardi who was the strongest climber in the group and would be in blue tomorrow. Mission accomplished for Nippo.
The breakaway had no chance when it came to the stage win though and we would see a mass sprint at the finish. Inside the last three kilometers, Richeze moved to the front of the pack, bringing Viviani with him
Under the final kilometer banner, Zdenek Stybar had gotten over the lead out duties from Richeze as Deceuninck are still in the driving seat for Viviani
But they might have left their leader alone in the win a bit too early as we see Kristoff easily spriting past Viviani with 600 meters to go
Viviani is making a come back in the final 250 meters though! The Norwegian might be the only who might have made a mistake actually by going too early as it's not only Viviani who will contest the win here with Kristoff. Vendrame, Bauhaus, Nizzolo and Ewan are all in the mix as well. It's going to be a very close one!
But Kristoff manages to hang on and take the win in a very very close finish. Viviani gets seconds. Probably a very disappointing result for the Deceuninck sprinter who would have loved a win here in the national champion shirt after to double up on his Milano - Sanremo win.
The Italian teams once again made sure they will be represented in the break. But this time there was not much to fight for as the KoM points awarded today would not be enough to challenge Lonardi's lead in the blue jersey classification, while the second half of the stage gave them no chance against a peloton hungry for mass sprints.
When it came down to the sprint, Deceuninck once again looked like the strongest team as they were dominating in numbers the front of the pack inside the final 5 kilometers
Lotto Soudal managed to match them as we got near the finish line and when the sprint was launched the two trains were leveled. No matter what happens today, Viviani and Ewan will have nothing to complain about regarding their teams work
Viviani launched his sprint under the flamme rouge, with Bauhaus closely following him, while Ewan was still waiting behind his lead out, probably conserving his energy
350 meters to go and Viviani and Bauhaus are going wheel to wheel, while Ewan is also making up solid ground being clearly faster than the two. It looks like it will be another close sprint in Italy!
But this time it's Viviani who takes! Although Bauhaus had managed to overtake him at some point in the sprint, Viviani managed to stand his ground and claim a fantastic win for himself in the national colors.
It looks like I forgot to save the replay of this stage and as a result I only a have a picture of the winner to show. With 3 races going on at the moment in the career I got some things messed up and forgot to press the button in the one that mattered most. It's quite a shame since this was quite a fun stage to play.
It all came down on the the final uphill section for the stage win. Gesink and De Plus did their best to launch Roglic in the final kilometer in the best position possible, but it would be enough for only a fourth place in the end.
Caleb Ewan found himself in a very good position in the final kilometer but he outdid himself and ran out of gas as we got closer to the finish line. The Bora boys, Schachmann and Konrad, also did some fine team work but it was Tom Dumoulin who was the fastest in the end and that's quite unfortunate for Jumbo and Roglic as Dumoulin winning the stage and Roglic missing out on the bonus seconds means we have a new pink jersey wearer.
Giovanni Lonardi went in the breakaway to defend his jersey. Dorian Godon, second in the KoM rankings, was also in the breakaway and managed to cut down a good chunk of Lonardi's lead, but the Nippo rider will still be riding in the yellow tomorrow. Carboni was the rider who got the most points today and we could see him challenging for the jersey in the next days as well.
Nothing new today in Il Giro as today's breakaway didn't manage to fool the pack either. Well, there is something new. With 3 kilometers before the finish line Deceuninck are nowhere to be see and it's Bora who is controlling the pack for
Sam Bennett, while Jumbo are in the front as well to make sure Roglic is well protected
As we are approaching the flame rouge Bora are still in the driving seat with sprinters fighting behind Bennett for his wheel. We can spot a bit of Viviani's Italian jersey right behind Tom Dumoulin, but he seems to be too far for from the front
Sam Bennett launched under the last kilometer banner with Kristoff, Ewan and Bauhaus following him. Viviani is still caught behind. He won't count for today's win
Bennett went really fast in the last kilometer but so did Kristoff and Ewan. Bauhaus isn't far behind either but it looks like it will be between Kristoff and Bennett for the win today
And it's Alexander Kristoff who takes it! After his first win here you could have said it was mission accomplished for the Norwegian. To take two wins must be absolutely amazing for him and his team. Perhaps we could see him challenging for the ciclamino jersey if he keeps getting this kind of results.
Another breakaway for Nippo's Giovanni Lonardi. But getting into the break today might have been a mistake today by the Italian as all of the escapes were caught by the time the top of the only categorized climb was reached.
No time gaps were registered between the favorites on the 2nd category climb despite a very strong pace set up by Laurens De Plus for Primoz Roglic. Even though some riders were struggling quite a large group made it across the top.
We would see gaps being made on the next little uphill section that followed the climb though as seven riders went clear: Zakarin, Konrad, Porte, Vanendert, Teuns, Lopez and Roglic. Dumoulin missed the move and his pink jersey might be in danger
But the Dutchman did a fantastic work on the downhill that followed and caught up with the front group all himself but brought a few other riders with him as well. A few big names were still missing from the new front group though: the Yates brothers, Pinot, Buchmann, Valverde, Majka, Kelderman. It looks like they will all be conceding time today
With such a big group heading towards the finish line it could be anyone who could take the win today and it was Primoz Roglic who made the first move as he launched inside the final kilometer
It was a bit too early to be making such a big move though and well inside the last kilometer the Slovenian seemed spent. Zakarin, Dumoulin, Thomas and Konrad looked with to have the best chance to get the win as the Jumbo rider was fading away
And it's Konrad who crosses the finish line first! Definitely a mixed day for Bora with both Majka and Buchmann losing time but with one of their riders grabbing the stage win. No bonus seconds for either Dumoulin or Roglic today which means the top 2 of the GC stays untouched
L'Aquila is synonymous with a breakaway win in Il Giro. Not today despite having quite a large breakaway group. Definitely the most disappointed rider of this outcome has to be Lonardi who was in the breakaway once again!
There are too very small and steep hills at the end of the stage which would decide the final outcome. Fleche Wallone winner, Dylan Teuns, went clear on the first one but only got a small advantage which he tried to defend on the small downhill section between the climbs against a pack led by Trek's Giulio Ciccone
He would not not make in the end as he was caught inside the final kilometer just as the race was about to reach the final uphill section of the day. Gesink and De Plus were now leading the pack, but Roglic was not with them as he was stuck a little bit further behind
One Belgian has seen his dreams of victory shattered today and now it's another two who are at the front of the race with 500 meters to go: Jelle Vanendert, another Fleche Wallone specialist, and Jumbo's Laurens De Plus
No wonder we see so many Fleche Wallone riders at the front today as this final climb is extremely steep and with 200 meters to go, both Vanendert and De Plus have vanished from the front. Lopez is now leading with Dumoulin and Gasparotto also in the front row
And it's Tom Dumoulin who has the strongest kick in the end and claims another stage win! Despite losing the opening time - trial this has been a fantastic week for the Sunweb rider. Yesterday's winner, Patrick Konrad, was second while Lopez finishing third and grabbing 4 bonus seconds means De Plus' days in the white jersey are over
