Tour du Loir et Cher Stage 2
13. April 2012
We already expected yesterdays second stage to be nervous and fast, but nobody thought it would take 110 kilometers untill a breakaway was finally released.
Starting from the beginning tough. Our target of the day was again, as the day before, the stage victory. Adriano Baffi: „We want the stage victory – classement is coming as a consequence“ So the best thing for us was a group of let’s say three riders, without Katusha and without the Team of the leader. When this situation occurs, we don’t have to work by pulling the peloton but we might stil profit of the work of the leader’s team which has to work for defending their jersey.
Luckily this situation developped, unfortunately not untill two and a half hours crazy attacking past. The rest of the race was finally a controllable peloton-movement. Several utterly crazy/amateur crashes – one guy crashed, hanging himself in the backwheel of the rider in front of him, then lying on the ground angry like a little child kicking his wheel with his foot into the passing peloton...
After 170 of the days 210k’s we also started to pull in the front. As our goal was a sprint and the stage victory, we had to do it. We closed the gap to 20 seconds but it was still 25 k’s to the finishline. So we decided to go really easy at about 42km/h to get some distance again betweeen the peloton and the breakaway, that no one would have the idea to start again crazy attacking.
We kept the gap at 50 seconds and at 15k’s to the finishline, Katusha took over the responsability. They pulled and closed the gap in the second last of the three final laps. The circuit of three kilometers was really hard! A pretty steep climb of about 700 meters starting at 1.5 to the finish also made a little selection. Eugenio would pull the sprint for Brambo but unfortunately Brambo didn’t get the chance to fully expand his 1900 Watts sprint. He took fifth place, Eugenio fourth...
Hmm, I know, not to good of a sprint preperation, but well, better days will come!
I’m now fith in the classement and Alex is fourth. Maybe we can both make it to the podium the next three days :)