Is Katusha's Sergei Ivanov one of the peloton’s craftiest riders or what? His attack with 10km to go in today’s stage was a lesson in timing. He observed the hesitation and lack of cohesion in his companions, and timed his move up the other side of the road to perfection. He knew that no one would want to pull the entire break up to him, effectively giving the stage to Daniele Bennati or Gerard Ciolek.
Once he got the gap, it was a simple—albeit painful— 10km individual time trial to the line in Besançon. Ivanov was clearly up to the challenge.
And just like that, the list of teams never to have won a stage in the Tour is down to 3.
Your thoughts? Share them below.
Also interesting that so many of the stages that have had successful breakaway stages ended with solos to the finish. Voeckler, Feillu, Haussler, and now Ivanov. Only twice were these types of finishes decided in the small group sprint (LuLu Sanchez and the Nose). To note, Voeckler's and Ignatiev's were from about 10K out as well!
ReplyDeleteGreat insight! I wonder what it indicates--are teams coming to the race more prepared for breakaways? Are they building more aggressive rosters?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!
reminded me of sörensen the other day
ReplyDeletecb