2023-05-23 21:47:00
At the beginning of the day it still looked as if this 16th day of racing at the 106th Tour of Italy might be one for the escapees. A strong group broke away.
But because Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) and Aurelien Paret-Peintre (AG2R – Citroen) were also two drivers who were not entirely uninteresting for the overall standings, the group ultimately had no chance:
Groupama – FDJ and Jumbo – Visma kept the leaders on a relatively short leash and finally on the final climb the excruciating pace of Almeida’s UAE teammates ensured that the day’s win was fought out among the top favourites.
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No wonder, because Almeida had a cream day this Tuesday.
Three things that stood out:
1) Kämna’s glass is more than half full
Lost a few seconds to his direct competitors, but still climbed one place in the overall standings: Was that a good or a bad day for Lennard Kämna? The 26-year-old was unable to keep up with the very best around Almeida, Thomas, Roglic, Eddie Dunbar (Jayco – AlUla) and Roglic’s helper Sepp Kuss in the long final climb a good five kilometers before the end and ended up losing to the chasing group a few seconds, but he clearly left Andreas Leknessund (DSM) and Bruno Armirail (Groupama – FDJ) behind and thus pushed past both of them to sixth place in the overall ranking.
This means that his goal at the Giro would still be overachieved and the German hopeful might sum up: “I think it was all right. I’m satisfied.” The fact that he lost four seconds to the group around Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) in the very last few meters as eleventh of the day was his own fault anyway and probably had less to do with general fitness than with wasting energy.
“Unfortunately, I went forward once more 1.5 kilometers before the end, I accelerated because I wanted us to narrow the gap. Then the others attacked over it and I fell off,” he explained to radsport-news.com at the finish Scene that might not be seen in the TV pictures.
Kämna passes the endurance test, but lacks support
Considering that Almeida, Thomas, Roglic and probably also Dunbar are currently a class better on the mountain, Kämna did very well on Monte Bondone and lost nothing to his direct competitors in the fight for the top ten. In this respect, the answer to the initial question may even be: more than half full!
However, for the remaining two mass start mountain stages, the approach at Bora – hansgrohe must change somewhat in order to support Kämna in the best possible way. As Tuesday showed once once more, Patrick Konrad is the only one in the team who might really support him in the high mountains in the final of the difficult mountain stages. It would therefore be well advised to leave the Austrian at Kämna’s side on Thursday and Friday, instead of sending him into breakaway groups in which he loses his strength and in the end can do nothing more for Kämna.
2) Almeida smells the roast
Kämna had already indicated it at his press conference on the rest day: For him, he explained, Joao Almeida was the favorite to win the Giro. The 26-year-old showed he has a good eye for his opponents, as it turned out the next day. Because the Portuguese was the strongest on Monte Bondone – maybe not the smartest, see below, but the strongest.
Almeida’s UAE team Emirates was probably also very sure of that and hit a horrendous pace on the final climb, which made the field of favorites smaller and smaller until Jay Vine, the last helper, was used up and Almeida finally increased the number of strokes once more. Only Roglic, Thomas, Dunbar and Kiss remained with him. But instead of asking Roglic’s helper Kuss to work his pace, the Portuguese continued to drive from the front with full commitment. He seemed to sense that Roglic was wobbling and so kept the pressure up.
Favorites analysis: Thomas uses his experience on Monte Bondone
Twice he tried to shake off the competition with a consistently high speed before he changed his approach five kilometers before the end and now started more explosively – with effect: Roglic, Kuss and Dunbar were now turned off. Only Thomas jumped up to the Portuguese and the two then shared the lead work until Almeida was livelier and stronger on the home stretch, so that he won the stage.
3) Thomas: Back in pink thanks to his experience
While Almeida tried with full offensive and the crowbar to profit from Roglic’s weakness – possibly still the followingmath of his fall on the 11th stage – and put the Slovenian under pressure on Monte Bondone, Geraint Thomas initially held back.
The 2018 Tour de France winner watched his opponents from behind, waited and did only what was necessary: stick with it. Until Roglic really obviously got into problems with Almeida’s sharpest start.
Now Thomas also went with the Portuguese and then worked together with him to distance the Slovenian and also the Irishman Dunbar as far as possible. In the end he lost to Almeida in the duel for the stage win and therefore had to give the Portuguese four bonus seconds, but the pink jersey was a consolation. And the certainty that he had left a few grains fewer on the asphalt on Monte Bondone.
Last kilometer: Almeida and Thomas decide to win the stage among themselves
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