What the stars said after Thursday’s discount – VeloNews.com

What the stars said after Thursday’s discount – VeloNews.com

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Everyone expected Tirreno-Adriatico to deliver the sparks with his world-class starting lineup. The first two innings certainly lived up to expectations in the “Race of Two Seas”.

It is impossible to have a race with so many stars and not have a crackling action. Thursday’s Phase 2 in the long, grinding finale saw an impeccable preview of what is not only in store for the upcoming spring classics, but also for this week’s GC dispute in a battle for the stars.

Here’s how the protagonists broke down the action at the finish line in Chiusdino, Italy:

Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) – stage winner

‘Alapanache’ fired a quick acceleration off the wheel of Gere Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers with 350m to roll off his attacking team-mate João Almeida and fend off a fast-loading Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix). Magnificent.

Not only did Alaphilippe reverse last weekend’s final order of Strade Bianche, but he clinched his first victory in the rainbow jersey in 2021.

“It was a final full of suspense. It was very intense. During the race, the rhythm was always very high, “said Alaphilippe. “For us, it was excellent that João Almeida was in front. When Geraint Thomas made his move, I understood that my time had also come to move, even though there was a headwind. It’s a special feeling to win with the rainbow jersey in Italy, the country where I won it. I realized that it’s harder to win races with this jersey, and that makes today’s victory even sweeter. Milano-Sanremo will be a different story, maybe it will be the same with the same candidates, but that is not the story of today. I do not want to think about it yet. ”

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) – race leader

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) kicked to third place 24 hours after winning the second day of the race. On his third day of racing in 2021, he finished where he needed to to defend his race leader’s jersey. Van Aert has a slim lead of 4 seconds on Alaphilippe and 8 seconds on third place van der Poel.

“I did not ask other teams to work. “Maybe our sports director did it, but I was confident that Emirates Team in particular would come and help Emirates, but with the attacks I was never really scared,” said Van Aert. ‘I told the guys to drive as fast as possible. We did not close it quickly, but we kept the breakaway some distance in front of us. João Almeida survived for so long and it was a hard sprint. The coming phases will be very difficult to control, but the short steep climb should suit me well. But when it comes to Saturday with such a long uphill finish, I’m more unknown. Both phases will be crucial. Teams like UAE Team Emirates and Ineos Grenadiers will build a mountain train, but we also have strong guys. However, I am confident because today’s stage was quite difficult and we managed it well. ”

Tadej Pogačar (UAE- Team Emirates) – 4th on stage, 9th overall

The 2020 Tour de France winner showed good signs of form during Tirreno-Adriatico’s first hilly test, which took fourth place in an uphill sprint. UAE Team Emirates were present in the numbers on the last climb of 7 km to the line, which kept the gap for a group of four escapees within reach. Pogačar, who won the UAE tournament in his debut for the season last month and rode a Strade Bianche in the winning group, confirmed his versatility to hit near the podium, and moved up to ninth place overall with 14 seconds back.

“It was a good day. The guys kept me in the front of the group and out of trouble, ”said Pogačar. ‘Eventually we tried to set a hard pace for the climb, but the climb was not so steep as to divide the group. We waited for the sprint and I took fourth place. This is a good start, but we will look forward to the next phases which will be more difficult. ”

‘Golden’ Greg Van Avermaet still simmers close to the favorites in every race he starts. The 2016 Olympic champion was protected by his new Ag2r-Citroën team-mate and propelled to eighth place with the frontrunners. The veteran Belgian has five top-10s in 2021, and he hopes to cook in time for the northern classics. A victory along the way will not hurt either.

” A top-10 here is a good result. It was a nice stage with a final climb that suited me, ‘said Van Avermaet. ‘Michael Schär did a good job in the last kilometer. Then it plays out on foot. I am satisfied with this eighth place; it is encouraging for the future. ”

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