Good result for SNH. Another very luck one though, again he was on 3-4 different leadouts so would be nice for him to pick and stick from now on. Thought he had won the lottery on Gaviria’s wheel out front under the banner, but all the trains in front kind of just lost it and got beaten from behind again. Hope Gaviria can get a win before the race is through though, two days to make up for it.
Also good to see Dainese’s investment paying dividends (although I do think he would be winning stages here regardless ). Thank you for the report!
Rodenberg just really loves this race, wow. Could not have imagined getting similar results to last year again. It seemed like a 1% outcome then, and especially after the rest of his season wasn't super impressive. But he keeps following good wheels and ending up in great positions in Qatar. Today, like stage 1 and unlike yesterday, he had the gear to match Dainese. Another 2nd place is incredible, both for the stage points and the GC. Even without any more time bonuses, a top 10 seems really reasonable now. A lot of the best sprinters around him are bad in prologues.
Speaking of which, I continue to hope for no splits for SKA's sake. He's chilling at the very back everyday, which is pretty precarious. But obviously his GC is secondary now. His stage performance is more important.
Kemboi v. Kooij has to be the battle to watch now. Neither has been terrific, but they've done enough where the epilogue should launch them towards the top.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Wow, De Lie… What a rider you can be already next year
Super impressed by his positioning and sprint, once again. Must admit I even went to check last year’s epilogue to see what kind of time loss can be expected there, and it still looks like a GC top 50 seems very difficult That’s not important, though, as the positives he’s showing here are very encouraging!
Cullaigh has been very consistent so far which is great, however we have no margin for error and there's a few riders still within touching distance that we need more time on. Rosenberg in particular but also Kooij is too close keeping in mind the epilogue.
Congrats to Sykkel freak on the win with Dainese!
John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25
Ah, so close to another win, but no shame in losing to Gaviria! Really good to see how consistently well our train has performed, which was a major question mark in the off-season. Kiskonen has done well as final lead-out, and Teutenberg has done an exceptional job before him.
We still need one more great sprint. Gaviria, Kemboi, Kooij, Rodenberg, Cullaigh and maybe also Kanter are all close enough to pass Dainese in the epilogue with the current time gaps.
Rodenberg chose Cullaigh's wheel again, and it was the wrong one this time around on the much narrower finish. Certainly no complaints for me though. Hoping for a top 10 on stage 5. And then we'll see what happens on stage 6.
Nice to see the favorite get a win!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
). Thank you for the report!
That’s not important, though, as the positives he’s showing here are very encouraging!
