TDF stage set for battle royale
Amid lively racing, multiple crashes and incidents force teams to reconsider Tour plans during an eyeopening week of riding, reports James Shrubsall
Following the Critérium du Dauphiné and Il Lombardia at the weekend, the stage has been set for the Tour de France — although the curtain is still tantalisingly pulled partially across as we wait to see just how much the ailments being nursed by favourites Egan Bernal (Ineos) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-visma) — and others besides — will affect them at the Tour.
And they were far from the only casualties. The Dauphiné, which was won overall by Daniel Martínez (EF Pro Cycling) is usually little more than a straightforward week of engaging Alpine racing, acting as a useful barometer of form for the Tour favourites. But this year it has scattered multiple major contenders in its wake.
Dutch super-team Jumbo-visma looked imperious at the start of the race, winning stage one and two with Wout Van Aert and Primož Roglič . But they saw Steven Kruijswijk crash on a gravelly descent on stage four and dislocate his shoulder, while Roglič, who was in yellow for the third consecutive day, also crashed heavily and failed to start the following day
“as a precaution”.
“Before yesterday I would have said yes [we were favourites for the Tour],” said Jumbo’s Tom Dumoulin after stage five. “But yesterday was really just a s*** day for us. Stevie is really banged up and Primož as well. There is still time to recover but it’s not ideal.”
Ineos, too, saw their stock fall, as last year’s Tour winner Egan Bernal suffered a recurrence of a previous back injury and was withdrawn from the race after stage three, while lying in seventh place.
“He’s just got a bit of an issue with his back,” explained his team-mate Geraint Thomas. “He’s not 100 per cent. He’s had two races before this as well, so he has a good amount of race days in him, so it’s just erring on the side of caution really.”
The team also saw its four-time winner Chris Froome lose a lot of time, suggesting his hoped-for return to full form in time for the Tour may not ultimately happen. Losing a handful of minutes on the first day, come the last two stages of the race he had been relegated to finishing in the ‘autobus’.
Thomas, who was back there with him on the last day, said: “He’s improved a lot, I think it’s easy to forget where he was last year, it’s unbelievable how he’s recovered.
“Obviously he’d like to be better but... he just needs a bit of time to really find his legs again but he still contributes to the team and is great to have around,” the 2018 Tour winner added.
There was also trouble for Borahansgrohe, who had been hoping to target the GC at the Tour with Emanuel Buchmann, who was fourth last year. But he crashed out of the race in the Kruijswijk crash along with his team-mate Gregor Mühlberger – a useful climber who was slated to support Buchmann in the Tour. Neither rider is believed to have broken any bones, but the team said Buchmann was in serious pain.
“It’s a very big disappointment for him, for
“Jumbo-visma were imperious at the start”
the team,” said Bora sports director Enrico Poitschke of Buchmann’s crash. “It’s not clear he can start in the Tour or not. We give our best and he’s still motivated – hopefully he can start but it’s hard to come back to the highest level. The Tour de France is important for him and the team.”
To make matters worse for the German team, a few hundred miles away in Il Lombardia another of their riders was also in difficulty.
Max Schachmann – who won Paris-nice in March and was in superb form postlockdown with third at Strade Bianche
– was knocked off by a stray car, driven by a local, in the closing stages of Il Lombardia on Saturday, suffering a broken collarbone. Amazingly, the 26-year-old German remounted to finish seventh in the Italian Monument, which was won solo by Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang ahead of George Bennett (Jumbo-visma) and Alexandr Vlasov (Astana).
The Italian race also saw prodigious youngster Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninckquick Step), who has already won the tours
of Burgos and Poland postlockdown – crash off a bridge into a ravine, breaking his pelvis and damaging a lung. It has clearly disrupted his remaining plans for the season (which didn’t include the Tour), but his team were simply happy to see him alive.
“What happens to his season? I don’t care, I really don’t,” Deceuninck team boss Patrick Lefevere told Belgium’s Het Nieuwsblad. “I’m glad he’s still alive. He said ‘sorry’ to me. I said, ‘You are still alive. Shut up’.”
Not every team emerged from the Dauphiné with more bruises and fewer riders. Despite declaring himself unhappy at losing out to Martínez, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-fdj) will take a significant confidence boost from his second place on GC and his continuous, lively presence at the sharp end of the race throughout its five stages. France has held tight to the promise he showed at last year’s Tour, and fans will be heartened to see that Pinot seems to have maintained last year’s form and desire to win, and can hope for a genuine French contender at the race next month.
“It certainly bodes well [for the Tour] but
I was still looking for a victory,” Pinot told the Groupama team website. “I was mainly thinking about the Dauphiné, not so much about the Tour. It’s a pity but the legs are good and that’s the most important. Now, we’ll have to rest well before the start of the Tour because it’s been a really hard week.”
Groupama DS Philippe Mauduit added: “There was a Tour de France competition on this race and we saw that Thibaut was keeping pace with the best. He really is back to his best level... he is well on schedule for his preparation for the Tour de France.”
Pinot’s countryman and star of last year’s Tour Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-quick Step) put in a mercurial Dauphiné performance that didn’t trouble the GC (he finished 24th) but livened up the odd stage and seemed befitting of a rider who insists he will be concentrating on going for stage wins at the Tour this year, while young talent Tadej Pogačar (UAE-TEAM Emirates) continues to impress, riding tenaciously to fourth on GC via two stage top-fives.
“His team were happy to see him alive”