@Tamijo: Even I didn't think this was possible! Within touching distance now...
@Aquarius: It is!
What's left is two monster climbing stages on 18 and 20 with a 'easier' one in between. Ends with an ITT to Champs Elysses. Yes, that's right! No respite even on the last stage
The brutal stage 18 would be a daunting challenge in my quest to hang on to my GC position. An extremely strong fourteen man break, with the likes of Betancur, Rolland, Arredondo, Landa, Sergio Henao and Slagter, got a seven minute lead to the peloton. On top of the third climb, the break was down to eight riders while the peloton was only thrity five riders deep. I had only Barguil and Alphilippe in support. The size of the break was halved by the time we reached the fifth climb. 1 Km from the top of the sixth climb, four riders - Nairo Quintana, Ibanez, Melchiot and Meintjes - attacked from the bunch. They were caught on the descent. Kwiatkowski was dropped. Melchiot attacked again at the base of the MTF. Barguil and Alaphilippe's enormous efforts till this point finally caught up with them. They dropped off while Landa, Quintana and Meintjes attacked again. With 5 km to go, Quintana, Ibanez and Melchiot led the way with Jungels, Gallopin, Simon Yates, Pinot and Landa chasing them. I was in the third group on the road with Ibanez and Formolo. With 2.5 km left, Melchiot was dropped from the lead group and I found myself back to the second group on the road. The two groups merged before the finish and Yates set off to take the win. I finished 4th and lost no time to Quintana.
Stage 19
The six man break got a lead of ten minutes over the pack. With 30 km to go, and 8 km from the top of the second climb, the the break was down to four riders but they still had an eight minute lead. 1.5 km from the top, Meintjes attacked and got a thirty second lead. The twenty man peloton chased as a pack and caught up. The break was down to three riders with a lead of three minutes with 15 km to go. At the 10 km marker, Nairo Quintana, Kwiatkowski, Ibanez, Arnaud Duteil and Meintjes launched an attack. Again, it was Barguil and Alaphilippe who chased them down with the help from Yates' Huawei team. The break survied to take the win as I finished 4th again, at the same time as my rivals. No time gaps once again. Barguil finished 5th, just reward for his work over the past two days.
Stage 20
A 232 km behemoth stage which kept the hard work till the end. Kwiatkowski was in the five man break which got a five minute lead to the peloton. The Pole trailed Simon Yates by 12 minutes in the GC. The peloton was down to 60 riders and the break had a two and a half minutes lead on top of the first climb. With 80 km to go, Kwiatkowski was the lone surviving break, with a one minute lead. The break then swelled to six riders on top of the second climb, two minutes ahead of the forty rider peloton. The break was caught 12 km from the top of the third climb. Alaphilippe was dropped here. The peloton consisted of just 20 riders on top of the third climb. I had just Barguil left in support. Quintana and Pinot launched the first attack at the base of the 12 km long MTF. With 6 km to go, Quintana was alone out ahead with around 15 seconds to his nearest chasers and nearly a minute to me. With 3 km left, Yates had caught up to Quintana, while my deficit was fifty seconds. While I caught and passed everyone else, I didn't catch my nearest rivals as Yates took yet another stage win. I finished 3rd on the stage, losing a minute and nine seconds to Quintana but held on to 2nd in the GC.
GC after Stage 20
1
Simon Yates
Huawei
85h44'21
2
Abhishek Sinha
Duvel
+ 3'29
3
Nairo Quintana
De Koninck
+ 4'10
4
Thibaut Pinot
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 4'44
5
Louis Meintjes
Swissair
+ 10'11
6
Gregorio Ibañez
TEAM Kodak
+ 12'43
7
Bob Jungels
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 13'14
8
Tony Gallopin
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 15'47
9
Romain Bardet
Huawei
+ 18'57
10
Alexis Vuillermoz
Tinkoff-Saxo
+ 25'18
Stage 21
An ITT from Versailles to Champs Elysses replaced the regular casual ride into Paris. An opportunity for me to cement my 2nd place perhaps. Dumoulin had a good early ride for us, clocking in the fastest time when he finished. He ended up 2nd behind Ibanez at the end of the stage. I started off well, 28 seconds off my teammate. However, there was only one rider's time I was worried about and that was Quintana. At the second time-check, I was 50 seconds off Dumoulin but I was still in 2nd place on the road. In the final section, I struggled. My legs were screaming from the effort on the mountains and I had to slow down to maintain my rhythm. Quintana finished and he was 1'12" off the top time. How much worse off would I be?
(Riding into Champs Elysses)
As I crossed the line, a 2'6" deficit came up on the board. I collapsed after getting off the bike, from exhaustion and disappointment. I had lost 2nd place...
I found myself in 3rd place after both the TTs in this race. The only difference was while I moved up a place to 3rd after Stage 13, I lost my 2nd place at the finish! The irony of ironies of me losing time to better climbers on an ITT to slip down the GC!
However, there was no taking away my monumental achievement in this race. I had just ended up on the podium in the biggest cycle race in the world! I had won the U25 classification in the last year of my eligibility, and wore it non-stop since Stage 4! I had broken a whole host of national records in achieving this feat. I did not manage to win any stages in the Tour, but my consistency was rewarded. Only on Stage 20 did I really lose time to my rivals. I rode a near perfect race and I haven't been more proud of myself professionally. Duvel's (often considered misplaced) trust in me has been proved right.
Spoiler
Taking a break from this story till MG transfers cool down, which will probably be next weekend. See you then
Congratulations, Abhishek! Finally a GT podium and not just any GT, either! Don't forget to thank your team mates for their great support. Also, you still need to work on your TT pacing. (Though the result matches my own experiences racing against Quintana, I've never seen him underperform in a TT, usually quite the opposite.)
Yes definitely! The work done by Barguil and Alaphilippe was immense and a big reason why I got 3rd place. Lot of help from Dum, Ulissi and Craddock as well. Van Aert actually had to sacrifice his possible stage wins on the flats. Hardouin too with a good 4th place in the U25s. A complete team effort!
The holy month of July has passed and now it's on to the preparations for the next target - la Vuelta! Duvel did not register to race in the Vuelta a Burgos, which is my usual preparation for the Vuelta. So instead I'm off to France to compete in the Tour de l'Ain.
Tour de l'Ain
A very good combination of profiles awaited us in Eastern France. The race had a TT, flats, hills and mountains! Not the best startlist by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd kept myself away from too good a race, for freshness and recovery purposes. Adam Yates and Arnaud Duteil were going to be the biggest competition.
Stage 1
Duvel had five riders in the top 10 favourites for the stage! I was among them. So was Adrien Costa. We did not disappoint the bookies, taking 1st and 2nd respectively. Adam Yates managed 8th, 18 seconds off my time.
Stage 2 was tailor-made for the sprinters while I enjoyed my day out in the sun in the Leader's jersey. Van Der Haar took the win.
(That's me on course)
Stage 3 was very flat! Louis Rohde had his moment in the spotlight.
Stage 4
I was among the favourites for the stage win. The seven man early break was down to five on the second climb. On the fourth climb, just three riders remained in the break. They had a three minute lead. At the base of the last climb, the break had a single rider, while the peloton was only thirty riders strong. This number reduced by ten 5 km from the summit. I only had Nathan Brown left for support. Yates and Gorkha Izaguirre attacked on top of the climb. They were never caught as I chased relentlessly. Gorkha broke away to take the win, while Buchmann joined Yates at the finish. I lost over half a minute to the latter pair, finishing on the wheel of Duteil, in 5th place. Izaguirre was the new leader of the race. I was more than a minute down.
Stage 5
I was once again a favourite to take the stage win. The early break of three stayed away till the penultimate climb of the day. In the meantime, nothing much happened of note in the peloton. As soon ass the break was caught on the sixth climb, I attacked out of the pack. I steadily built up a lead. I was going up the last climb alone but it was not slowing me down, and the others were definitely not catching up. On top of the last climb, I had 34 seconds to Buchmann and Duteil, in the next group, and nearly 90 seconds to the peloton, where Izaguiree, Yates and the others were. Buchmann and Duteil started to close in after the 10 km marker. I put in my final surge inside the last 5 km and won the stage with nearly a minute to the chasing pair and over two minutes to the main pack!
I couldn't have asked for a better preparation for the Vuelta. Coming off my Tour de France performance this was the best way to keep the momemtum going. Two stage wins, three jersey wins, a time trial sucess and a hills success, an all-round effort from my end. Now to take this form to the Vuelta!
After the highs of the past couple of months, my preparation for the Vuelta took a hit just a week before the event, as I took a hard fall in training. No permanent damage, but plenty of soreness all around. I should improve as the race goes on but just hope it isn't too bad in the first week.
The big team news was that Alaphilippe was starting all three GTs this season. A big challenge for him, especially given the kind of work he put in supporting me in the Tour. Not as strong a mountain team as the Tour for us, but there was enough going uphill to hang in with the best mountain trains. My target here was the double-podium, following the 3rd place in the Tour. That shouldn't be entirely out of reach. The fireld was quite weak with only Swissair's Adam Yates and Ilnur Zakarin looking the likely challengers. Arnaud Duteil was an outside shot for a podium.
Stages 1 - 6
The Stage 1 prologue was not supposed to be very important. However, Zakarin decided to flex his muscles early and took the win and the first jersey. I lost 20 seconds while Alaphilippe had a poor day, losing 48 seconds.
Stage 2 was flat and saw a three man early break. They were caught on top of the last climb of the day. Both me and Alaphilippe took advantage of the slight uphill finish to come home in 3rd and 2nd place respectively.
Stage 3
The break was four riders strong on the first climb and increased to six riders on the flat following it. Three of them were caught before the category 1 climb. I missed the key move. I had no choice but to chase hard. i caught and passed a few riders going up. I caught up to Zakarin, and also to Hardouin, who had been on the right side of the split. Four riders were out ahead of our group and gained time. I finished in the third group on the road, moving up to 8th in the GC. Hardouin finished 5th on the stage.
Stage 4
The six man also saw Majka join it. He was already nine minutes behind in the GC. On top of the first HC category climb, the break had three and a half minutes on a seventy rider strong peloton. I had four teammates in support. After the second HC climb, the peloton had swelled to eighty riders, while the break had built up a nearly eight minute lead. 12 km from the top of the climb, three Swissair rides, Zakarin , Yates and Arredondo, powered away. Ulissi took up the chasing for us. We caught back to Yates 1.5 km from the top. With 15 km left, Zakarin had a 15 second lead while the break were still more than six minutes ahead. Both the break and Zakarin increased their lead over the next 10 km. The break won and Zakarin gained time on all his rivals. I finished 7th, in the group with Yates, Arredondo and Buchmann. I moved up to 3rd in the GC. Almost 30 riders did not make the time limit! I lost a teammate for the same reason.
Stage 5 was back on the flat. The earl break was caught inside the final 10 km and the stage was decided in a bunch sprint.
Stage 6
The day's early break was caught with 35 km to go. Duteil and five others attacked on the climb to the finish. Both me and Zakarin were out of teammates soon and we chased the attackers down. We caught back to Duteil while Yates lost some time to us. Sagan gained time on me and moved back to 3rd. I was down to 4th in the GC.
This stage was not touted to be a big factor in the GC race, but it turned out quite to be quite different. The early break was caught with just 7 km left. The increase in pace had a few big name casualties from the head of the field. Alaphilippe and Zakarin were dropped. Zakarin lost three minutes and moved down to 4th in the GC. Sagan moved into the lead, while I moved up to 3rd.
Stage 8 saw a the peloton reduced to 50 riers behind the break on the 1st category climb. With 15 km to go, I still had three teammates in support, while the remaining two man break was thirty seconds ahead of the peloton. The break was caught with around 10 km to go. Boswell launched an attack with 6 km to go but was chased down. I had lost all my teammates by the 3 km to go mark. Yates launched a lone attack and gained thirty seconds to the rest of us. He took the lead in the GC. I finished 6th on the stage.
Stage 9 was back on the flat and was decided in a bunch sprint.
Stage 10
Campanaerts was top favourite to win this stage but he could only manage 3rd place, our best finish on this stage. I lost 1'15" on the stage while Yates struggled, losing nearly three minutes. Sagan's impressive ride to 6th, losing just 43 seconds, put him back on top of the GC.
The transitional Stage 11 saw the peloton taking it easy. The early break held on easily and fought it out for the win.
Stage 12 had an uphill finish. The early break was caught with 35 km to go. A group of 10 riders went away with 3 km to go, but it did feature any of the GC contenders. Alaphilippe was in the attacking group and finished 2nd on the stage. There was no change in the GC.
Stage 13
It took two attempts for the day's break to form. They were caught with 20 km to go. With 4 km to go, a group of 12 riders made their move, including the GC contenders. Zakarin launched another attack with 3 km to go and I followed. Zakarin eventually dropped me, and Sagan and Gallopin caught up. I finished 4th, with the same time as Sagan, while Gallopin gained a few seconds. Yates lost considerable time and I moved up to 2nd in the GC behind Sagan.
A strong ten man break with the likes of Majka, Gorkha Izagirre and Sebastien Henao were allowed to get away. The peloton was down to sixty riders on the first climb itself. As things settled, riders from the break kept getting dropped and were swept up by the peloton. On top of the fourth climb, the break had four riders with a lead of three and a half minutes to the pack. I had three teammates left in the fifty man peloton. A couple of attacks were neutralized leading up to the last climb. Yates and Zakarin attacked in tandem 5 km from the top of the last climb. They left the lone surviving rider rider from the break behind, while I chased the trio on my own. Sagan was already two minutes behind me. I couldn't catch them on the descent, and finished 4th on the stage. The top of GC turned upside down, as Sagan dropped to 4th, while Yates became the new leader. I retained my 2nd place, but I was chasing a new name at the top. Zakarin moved up to 3rd.
Stage 15 was flat but the sprinters' dreams were scuttled by a break who were not caught.
Stage 16
Ulissi joined the four man break, which included Sagan again. The middle section of the stage consisted of the peloton chasing the break, and not much else. The break was caught with 30 km to go. I attacked at the base of the last climb, catching my immediate rivals off guard. Gallopin and Duteil followed and I was glad to get their help. With 7 km to go, Duteil was out in front, with me about 20 seconds behind. Both Yates and Zakarin remained in the peloton, more than two minutes behind me. I took 2nd on the stage and became the new leader of the GC! Alaphilippe finished 7th. My first ever leader's jersey at a Grand Tour!
Stage 16 Result
1
Arnaud Duteil
Team Giant-Alpecin
4h39'30
2
Abhishek Sinha
Duvel
+ 38
3
Matej Mohoric
De Koninck
+ 1'15
4
Michael Matthews
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 2'29
5
Nacer Bouhanni
Team Giant-Alpecin
s.t.
6
Jay McCarthy
Huawei
s.t.
7
Julian Alaphilippe
Duvel
s.t.
8
Bryan Coquard
Team Europcar
s.t.
9
Moreno Moser
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
10
Mattia Cattaneo
TEAM Cepsa
s.t.
Stage 17 had a nasty cobbled section in the final section. The day's break was caught before that section. Among my leading teammates, Alaphilippe and Ulissi faded on the cobbles. Among my rivals, only Yates could hang on to me through the cobbles. We distanced the others and finished in the lead group.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
(Though the result matches my own experiences racing against Quintana, I've never seen him underperform in a TT, usually quite the opposite.)
. The close field has played to my advantage so far.
