A time trial stage in Tuscany. After Sunday’s stage shuffled the deck, this will reshape the GC for the week and beyond too.
Beef, beef, beef: we’re in the land of the Bistecca alla Fiorentina, the sizzling 800g beef steak. You know the results from Sunday by now so a quick note on intra-team rivalry. Isaac del Toro is now the race leader but is he the team leader at UAE? Today should tell us plenty more, Del Toro explaining he rode hard for a while because he thought the white jersey of Juan Ayuso was with him was amusing as he said it took him a while to realise it was Egan Bernal instead.
While there have been reprisals of 1987 (Roche vs Visentini) and 2004 (Cunego vs Simoni) in the Italian cycling media and beyond, one thing to note is how things are structurally different now. Isaac del Toro is not yet a millionaire but that is a matter of time given his current contract; Juan Ayuso is already unless he’s invested disastrously.
Teams can buy loyalty today in a way that was not possible in the past with big contracts and long term deals. Few riders are a result away from adding a zero to their contract; and at UAE this can be done internally too. Also not rocking the boat only enhances a rider’s value more if they’re going to be on the jobs market soon, teams will pay millions for a grand tour contender but discount this if the rider broadcasts they’re not a team player.
So while it could be fun to watch the UAE team bus turn into a viper’s nest, riders are just not incentivised go public like this. It can still happen, pride is a powerful emotion. But when was the last time you heard a big beef? Ayuso on the Galibier last July comes to mind… but that was surely a thin sliver of carpaccio…
The Route: 28.6km and largely flat, there’s the climb via hairpins to San Giuliano but these are wide roads.
The Contenders: Josh Tarling (Ineos) won in Albania and now gets a course to suit even more, it’s flatter and has fewer corners and while he’s 21, he’s won already over this kind of distance. He’s even looked to have had the right kind of racing so far, not tired from team work or trying to win overall but in the action at times not to get stale.
Edoardo Affini (Visma-LAB), Josef Cerny (Soudal-Quickstep) and Dan Hoole (Lidl-Trek) other specialists but with lower win rates, they can win but would need a good day.
Juan Ayuso (UAE) can win time trials but this is longer than usual for him, he missed out in Tirana in part because of a crash the previous day, now he’s had a heavier fall on the roads to Siena. Now Primož Roglič (Red Bull) is also nursing wounds.
It’s great to see Wout van Aert (Visma-LAB) winning again but for all the tales of resurrection, he’s been close to the win in recent weeks, the frustration has been the proximity to the wins.
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Tarling |
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– |
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WVA, Affini, McNulty, Roglič |
Weather: cloudy and a rising chance of rain for the final riders. Wet roads can be slower but the course isn’t too technical, more humid air is faster but colder air is denser and the temperature could slip from 23°C to 16°C.
TV: the first rider is off at 13.20, Tarling goes at 14.36 and Del Toro is due to finish around 17.15 CEST.
Postcard from Lucca
If you’re in the area, a visit to Lucca is as good if not better than Pisa because it has all the architecture, shops, food and charm of Pisa but without the crowds. What’s missing of course is that tower and so like cyclists visiting the Alps having try Alpe d’Huez or feeling compelled to do the Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, everyone is drawn to Pisa just try it for themselves.
Meanwhile Lucca is the sort of place you could sit down in cafe on one of many piazzas and pick up the house copy of La Gazzetta. Only it’s hard the find the cycling coverage, at the moment there are about two pages a day and you won’t learn very much, as said here before you might as well order an espresso because it won’t take long to read the paper. This a lament rather than a complaint, the cycling coverage is under-resourced.
One headwind the Giro has is competition within Italy. Serie A is still on and the Rome Open tennis tournament has just happened. Plus there’s the effetto azzurro. Literally the “blue effect”, the phrase was coined by TV critic Aldo Grasso to describe a tendency to get behind star champions in Italy. Even La Gazzetta writes about “l’effetto Jasmine” when describing the recent success of tennis player Jasmine Paolini in Rome, her win in the Italian open has brought big coverage. Meanwhile in Jannik Sinner gets pages galore too.
It’s normal around the world and tennis in particular seems prone to this. But seems particularly pronounced in Italy. And Filippo Ganna isn’t here for the time trial today.
Does this course suit Jay Vine? Would be interested to see if he can give this a shake… Or will he be treating this as another recovery day to be ready to support his leaders in the mountains?
With 4 other riders in the top 10, UAE will definitely need, going forward, more riders who are going to ride in support
He’s just good in time trials but as he’s a lighter rider today’s flat course makes it harder for him to win.
Even though i am a fan. I don’t think he should try unless they are really confident he can win at the half way point of the 3 weeks.
Smashing a TT and risking a crash or trying the legs more than necessary does not make sense otherwise.
A nice warm up day after the rest day is the best option.
I’m fairly sure you didn’t intend it to be such, but that bit about Del Toro and Ayuso is a reminder just how boring modern sport is! Its so stage managed and brand aware! I have nothing against Ayuso, but I hope Del Toro doesn’t give an inch! Go down swinging. If I was a team manager in the market for a team leader I would personally rather see that than some mild mannered choir boy. As a fan I definitely would!
Oh, and Wout’s going to double up today.
Things are better managed, and money goes a long way to helping smooth things over here with big budgets and message discipline. We’ve seen this with Pedersen, he wanted to do the Tour de France as the first week suits but got sent to the Giro and but has only grumbled politely, and of course made the most of this and even got revenge with win bonuses.
I’d watch to see if Ayuso arrives or leaves the race separately by team car rather than riding on the team bus 😉
Matt White’s sudden departure from Jayco is another case, in the past there would have been plenty of coverage of this but this time there’s little.
I think that bit about Del Toro mistaking Bernal for Ayuso is a bit of a likely story. Bernal’s posture on the bike is more or less a “half Healy” … a bit hard to confuse with anyone else.
It’s possible for a few seconds amid the dust but surely not much longer.
I did hear him say it on TV but if we share the quote it’s probable reasonable to assume he thought he saw this for a brief moment in the dust, the time it took to do a pull.
Why would a team manager want a rider who isn’t a team player in a team sport? Very wishful thinking on your part.
I’m surprised Matthias Vacek doesn’t get a mention as a possible contender today. Fifth in the stage 2 ITT, and first of the Lidl-Trek squad, and clearly in sparkling form.
Yes, but he won’t be faster than Tarling. Shoild go for a breakaway tomorrow or on sunday.
A contender but still hard to see the win. Think he’d like more corners, the more acceleration efforts, the greater his chances.
Sunday was great, Tuscany often provides great racing along with superb scenery. I just hope RCS dont overuse it. Once every few years is enough.
Far too early to be writing him off but was surprised Primoz Roglic never managed to get back to the main group. Egan Bernal for the podium?
Wish the TT was a bit longer it would help balance the race more. The day after a rest day often springs surprises so could see some riders unexpectedly lose time.
I agree that the race organisers should not over-use the Sienna finish. I would like there to be a gravel stage in every Giro. I am sure there are plenty of other places in Italy which could offer a similar stage.
Surely more than a few places, but not really sure about “plenty”.
When compared to Spain, Italy with its generally high population density has paved a huge lot of secundary roads (which makes it so easy to design those famous tricky stages on asphalted backroads – which are a bit lacking in this specific edition).
Tuscany is a very special case as in:
– low population density
– a good deal of money available / spending attitude by the public institutions
– interest in taking care of lanscape and environment
So they’ve got their white roads which nevertheless are often “provinciali” (bigger connection roads) hence receiving some funding and maintenance.
Of course, you can find enough “gravel routes” elsewhere in Italy, but not all of them are as apt as these to ride a road race on.
That said, since there’s the Strade Bianche each year, I’d also try to avoid inflation in Siena.
“Looking for” new, peculiar roads is something which always tended to make the Giro route so interesting and special, hence it’s just great if they don’t drop that sort of effort, which has been receiving a bit less prominence under Vegni’s direction.
On that point, it’s a little surprising we haven’t seen the Vuelta make use of gravel as yet (at least, not that I can recall) – there’s a huge network of gravel roads in Spain that could be used for racing. Perhaps the new Jaen classic will help to seed the idea with the Vuelta organisers?
Yes, they did, although not very frequently so.
I remember something when Pogi, being still 20 and his first GT, eventually podiumed (he won that stage and a couple of others). It also rained.
It’s been used in smaller stage races in Andalucía in 2018, in Valencia in 2022, at Itzulia in 2019, more recently in O Gran Camiño…
They rarely are as well kept as Tuscany’s (back to what I was hinting at above), so there are often protests & problems.
Sometimes unfavourable reports from local authorities block the option (it had been considered for the Vuelta 2015).
I’d be amazed if Bernal got on the podium. I found it very depressing on Sunday that he & the rest of Ineos put in so much effort only for him to end up one second further behind Ayuso. He’s also surely going to lose more time today to the likes of Ayuso & Roglic even with their injuries. I have everything crossed for Tarling to win the TT today but given the narowness of the margin of victory in the first TT I’m certainly not banking on it.
I was expecting Tarling to quite possibly get beaten by the likes of Ayuso or Roglic but for him not to even cross the line in first is worse than I feared.
No spoilers in the comments (before stage is finished) please 🙏
To be honest, they were quite unlucky with Arensman having a flat in a key phase. If you’re on the front in force as a team, it’s just normal that the rest of the break will sit on the wheels, so you need at least two working men besides a protected captain in order to make it worthwhile, given that in case your captain is forced to work, too, the “resting” rivals both in the break and in the chase will easily get a big edge on him. If you’re left with a single gregario, you’re equally forced to work as a captain because working alone vs. sharing part of the workload makes a huge difference in terms of speed. Ineos and Bernal decided to bring the action as forward as possible all the same, which was a good idea IMHO because on such a stage… whatever might have happened behind, slowing down the chase. If he had just stopped once Arensman had had his flat, it’s far from clear that INEOS could find a better way to finish the stage, even a rested Bernal would have struggled to do better than Ciccone on that terrain, which means that “the cost of betting” was low, we’re speaking of a dozen of secs at most. Hadn’t we had a rest day on Monday it would have been a wholly different story, of course.
And Bernal was down on the ground at the beginning of the ITT. Ouch. He looked pretty much downhearted in the post race interview. Hope he finds some spirit and luck to overcome circumstances and at least give a go to a long range move tomorrow or perhaps on Sunday.
Yes, sadly Bernal’s TT was rather a disaster, ending up the slowest of all the GC contenders. The problem is he’s probably still too close to be allowed to go in any breaks. Arensman had a much better TT. If only he hadn’t lost that time on the first stage.
I’m rather worried by his morale. The crash wasn’t televised but I’d say he must have lost 30″ at least, also taking say Ciccone or Carapaz as a plausible and even pessimistic couple of references. That wasn’t going to make him have a great ITT but would place him along A. Yates, McNulty or Del Toro and within a minute back from Ayuso or Simon. Not great but not as terrible as it ended up, either.
On a more positive note, the way the race is playing out is keeping like 20 riders in the picture. There isn’t a Pog or Vin to just ride away with two minutes and end the race, so there are going to be a lot of little battles and there is definitely a chance of a break going up the road that the big favorites don’t deal with appropriately. UAE are hardly Team Sky, are they? So many riders to keep in check, someone is bound to get away. You know Carapaz will try, I think Bernal will if he’s still feeling ok. It might be too much to ask, but I’m hoping someone in the 3-4 minute range gets away tomorrow.
I suspect Tarling has this well covered for the win, but beyond that I’m sure what will play out.
The placement after the gravel and rest day gives a bit of uncertainty to what, elsewhere in the race, could have been a routine stage cementing GC positions in place. But I sense that might be different today. Interested to see where and how time gaps are exacerbated, consolidated or recovered. Especially Rog.
The interest goes well beyond the stage and leader’s jersey. Ciccone, Carapaz, Yates x 2, Bernal, Tiberi and several others will be trying to gain – or at least avoid losing – seconds. Bernal could do well, even S Yates despite the course lacking technicity.
Lucca also has several bike shops catering for the cycling round the walls people. My favourite is local ex pro Antonio Poli. Old school photos on walls and his shop based kit which gets redesigned each year.
Poli is worth a visit, just looks like what a bike shop in a walled city should look like. Has a long history with the sport too.
After all the crashes its difficult to consider anyone the race favorite at this point. I will nominate Del Tore because he has a minute lead but its anyone’s guess how he will go at the pointy end of the 3 week race.
If he does not win they he should have pulled back to Ayuso group. I know that’s not the exciting option but if they want to win these are the hard decisions you may have to make. We won’t know if its a good decision perhaps until the last stage of the race if Del Tore can keep it going. If Del tore, Vacek and then the inous boys had pulled hard together they would have buried Roglic right out of the race.
There was a Lidl trek rider who soled across leaving his GC rider behind to the front group and then got dropped. Instead of pulling the GC group up to the front group which contained a GC rival. Roglic is very lucky.
With Del Toro now a minute ahead, Ayuso (who likely has more chance over 3-weeks) can “just” sit on any rival attacks, no?
That rider was Vacek. And he had been *allowed* to go for the stage – only, when it appeared that the stage win was gone, he was asked to drop back and work, which he duly did. Trek’s bet for an overall GC win with Ciccone is half-hearted as it’s been apparent until now (understandably so). Though, maybe it’s just a smart way to keep some pressure away from his shoulders.
If Ayuso wants to win he needs to stop Plucking his eye brows like Ronaldo and start looking like a cyclist and fight for it. Good on Del Toro. The last Spanish rider I liked was Marino Lejarreta.
Shame there’s no Ganna to race Tarling for the win, on the other hand, the podium might well have a surprise name or two depending on the weather and how well guys have recovered from Sunday.
With Roglic at 1min 12 seconds down on Ayuso, it looks like the TT is his big chance to take back time. To win the Giro, I’m guessing Roglic will need to claw back 45 seconds to give him a chance. Of course Ayuso might be suffering still from Sunday as might Roglic.
Primoz Roglic slid out on a corner during this morning’s recce ride. Didnt look as if he came to any harm but hardly ideal preparation especially as he had a large plaster just below his left knee.
My impression is that Del Toro is fine supporting Ayuso (or Adam Yates). But the real “tension” is between Yates and Ayuso. Adam is, I feel, being unfairly dismissed by many commentators as one of the two leaders at UAE. The management wants to support him (I think), and they keep stressing he and Ayuso are both leaders. His terrain only comes in week three (unlike Ayuso). He seems to be popular within the squad, and is thought to be ‘a good team-player’. Moreover, everyone at UAE knows this might be Adam’s last chance at leadership in a grand-tour (given his age), something he also thinks is true. He will only be asked to support another rider on the team if he clearly drops in the mountains in the last week (my opinion): they will want to give him every chance for his own result.
Wide roads, yes, but careful with the descent to San Giuliano Terme, after the tunnel which goes below “Dante’s pass” (not Dante’s Peak -___-), the path crossing the hill which has been dedicated to the poet as he named this little mountain in the Divina Commedia.
Back to the descent, it’s broad and the bend are engineered to allow double transit at speed by heavy vehicles, too, yet they’re peculiar enough to become especially tricky on a TT bike, much more so if you’re trying to go as fast as physically possible, not to speak of possible rain showers (even worse, coming out from the dry surface in the tunnel).
Small edit: inter-team rivalry; you probably meant intra-team rivalry.
Nice pun with the (possible) beef between del *Toro* and Ayuso (just check out the latter’s logo…).
True, didn’t think of the Ayuso logo but remember it now. It was striking how he turned pro and seemed to have his own branding in place too.
The tower looks as if it is about to fall across the track!
Lucca is definitely a nicer place to visit than Pisa, especially for a cyclist. There are lots of Bike shops, the circuit around the town on top of the wall is a lovely place for a ride. When you want to see the leaning tower, it’s a 20 minute train ride away. Definitely makes for a nice afternoon trip from Lucca.
Lucca also has a parkrun course all round the top of the fully intact city wall. Next time I am there I’ll be doing it.
Very interesting figures for Sunday on Italian TV. We had top three event, all of them free to air on national broadcasting.
The unrivalled one was obviously tennis: on the main national public channel, and logically so. Top two world players, one of them Italian, rivalry, doping comeback polemica, held in Roma itself, not a Slam but still a Master1000. The match itself began right after the Giro stage but it was preceded by a long presentation broadcast which in itself hit the 3M viewers mark, part of whom were probably taken away from the other two sports events (the match came close to 5M).
We also had the Imola F1 GP, equally held in Italy and traditionally a beloved event. Ferrari had poor qualifications, I see (can’t judge much on it), but then the race was defined by some media as “thrilling” although I read that Ferrari came short of the podium.
2M spectators – exactly the same as the Giro stage, but, for some reason, the latter had a slightly higher share (16% vs. 17%).
The weak point for the Giro was surely that nobody expected the Italian riders to be in contention nor the situation looked especially promising, even if eventually Ciccone finished 3rd. The strong point was clearly the landscape!