There is never a quiet day in the 2024 Giro d’Italia, even on a pan-flat ride from the Adriatic coast to Cento near Bologna. Someone is always looking for an opportunity to attack and the overall contenders have to be ever vigilant.
Tadej Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates squad have often squeezed any life out of their rivals, but on the road across Emilia Romagna, Ineos Grenadiers decided to turn the tables, go on the attack and wake up the peloton from the slow-riding waited for the sprint finish.
Crosswind racing and echelons are rare as soggy pasta in Italy, but Ineos Grenadiers sniffed the chance of an attack and split the peloton with 62km to go as the race cut across the exposed fields of the Po delta, and a stiff summer breeze blew from the south.
The Ineos attack was planned, and most of their rivals were ready for it, but the stage suddenly came to life.
“We talked on the radio, and we said: ‘Let’s just do it.’ It was good to get stuck in and have a go,” Geraint Thomas explained post-stage, with a hint of satisfaction, as he warned down in the shadow of his team bus beyond the finish area.
For several long spells, the red and orange Ineos jersey packed the front of the peloton. Pogačar was caught in the exposed gutter a few times but was there with several teammates, as were all the major GC contenders.
Only Jonathan Milan missed the split, forcing Lidl-Trek to lead the chase for 20km until the wind eased and the roads changed direction slightly, just enough to weaken the attack.
Milan and his lead-out train eventually managed to get back on, recover and win the sprint, but there were smiles and a sense of satisfaction rather than regret at the Ineos Grenadiers bus.
“There was a bit of wind and some open sections going into the corners, so we thought we’d try and see what happened,” Thomas explained.
“It did split, and there was a small group, but it wasn’t quite in the right direction. And all the main GC guys were there, too. If the road changed direction again if we half-roaded it, and if there were a few more corners, it could have split again if someone got complacent, but it eventually settled down.”
Ineos Grenadiers had Thomas, Filippa Ganna, Ben Swift, Jhonatan Narváez and Tobias Foss in the echelon attack, riding like an experienced Flemish Classic team.
“Not bad for some old guys,” Swift joked to Cyclingnews.
“It’s been said how well we’re riding together, and today we showed it. We’re all on the same wavelength, we don’t need to speak, we all know where everyone is one is the peloton and it makes it easier for everyone.”
Thomas is 2:56 down on Pogačar and so will start Saturday’s Lake Garda time trial six minutes ahead of him in the official start order. He will be hoping to hold that gap all the way to the finish of the flat but often twisting 31.2km time trial.
Thomas lost 1:59 to Pogačar in last week’s Perugia time trial, mostly on the climb to the finish. He is hoping to avoid a similar bad day on Saturday.
“Hopefully, it’s a bit better than the last one…” he said with his usual sense of humour.
“The TT is a big day. We’ll do our pacing strategy; try to stick to that as much as we can see where we end up.”
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