The BMC Racing Team did its part to look after Cadel Evans on a wind-swept stage of the Tour de France Thursday.
‘Stay Out Of Trouble’
Manuel Quinziato, the BMC Racing Team’s designated road captain for the 176.5-kilometer race, called it a stressful day. “There was a lot of wind from the beginning and everybody wanted to stay in the front,” he said. “Michael Schär, Marcus Burghardt and I took care of Cadel and together with Philippe Gilbert with Tejay van Garderen, we avoided the danger. All the other guys supported us in the first part of the race and did a really good job, too.” Evans was the first of the general classification contenders to cross the line, finishing 17th, in a time five seconds slower than stage winner André Greipel (Lotto Belisol). The time lost was not a concern, BMC Racing Team Directeur Sportif John Lelangue said, because the 16 riders ahead of Evans were all sprinters. “The mission today was to stay out of trouble,” Lelangue said. “If there was an opportunity on one moment to make the race harder, we would have done it. But there wasn’t with the wind. We also know that we have some important stages going on this weekend.” Evans is 23rd overall – 31 seconds off the lead of new yellow jersey wearer Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) – while teammates Gilbert, van Garderen and Amaël Moinard are 24th, 25th and 26th, respectively, all in the same time.
Quotes from Argo-Shimano Team:
Marcel Kittel
“Third place isn’t a win, it’s close but not enough. We were in a good position, but we went a bit too far out which meant that I needed to get around a teammate of Greipel and Cavendish before the line. The legs are really good so i’m very disappointed as today was a big chance where we had the potential to win but others were stronger and better positioned. Tomorrow will be tough, i’ll try to hold onto the bunch but it won’t be easy so we will see.”
Tom Dumoulin
“We came through a bit too early today which made it hard in the end for us. Once Greipel’s train overtook us we knew it would be difficult. Sometimes Marcel can make it happen, but sometimes it is too much and that was unfortunately the case today. I couldn’t push it any harder at the end – in cycling sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”
Rudi Kemna
“Today went quite well but we were focused on winning so we are left a bit disappointed. The guys were really focused for the whole race and showed great teamwork in holding their position on a nervy stage.
“We didn’t have any problems with the wind or crashes and they protected Marcel very well. We were well positioned in the finale, but with one kilometre to go we were a bit too far behind and Marcel was too far back, needing to move up again which costed too much energy. As we are racing at the highest level it is very important for everything to go right. Today was good but not perfect and you need that to win a stage.
Kessiakoff, Brajkovic both forced to abandon Tour de France after separate crashes
Astana Pro Team riders Fredrik Kessiakoff and Janez Brajkovic both abandoned the Tour de France on Thursday.
Kessiakoff, from Sweden, crashed on Wednesday, injuring his right forearm, both elbows, chest and left knee. He started the 176km stage from Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier with bandages and an extremely sore torso, and when the peloton accelerated after the first half hour of racing he was unable to stand on his pedals to keep the pace.
Brajkovic, from Slovenia, crashed into a traffic island in the final kilometers of Thursday’s stage, opening a large wound on his left knee, breaking a flange in his left hand and scraping his chin on the asphalt. He finished the stage in extreme pain and was examined by two Tour de France surgeons and the Astana Pro Team doctor at a mobile hospital in the finish line area where he received internal and external stitches to the knee wound.
“I was really scared when I saw the size and depth of the hole in my knee,” Brajkovic said.
“I knew it was bad, but I wanted to finish because you never know. The doctors were very fast and very professional, and they sewed up both of the wounds. They also said that when the anesthetic wears off I am going to be in a lot of pain,” Brajkovic said.
Kessiakoff said there are always one or two big crashes every day in the first week of the Tour de France.
“It’s nobody’s fault. It’s the Tour de France, everybody is here to do a good job, everybody is here to work for their captain, and everybody wants to be at the front of the race. The road is only so wide, and it is impossible for everybody to be at the front,” Kessiakoff said.
“I couldn’t shift today I was in so much pain, and when the crosswinds started and the peloton was speeding up, I couldn’t accelerate and hold on to the bars because my whole body was in pain. I’m sorry for myself and I’m sorry for the team, because six guys now have to do the work of nine for the next two and a half weeks,” Kessiakoff said.
Astana Pro Team Director Sportif Dmitriy Sedoun said the crashes were an unlucky coincidence, and they made for a frustrating challenge in the coming weeks.
“Fuglsang in the mountains now has five riders to help him. We lost two exceptional climbers today, on a flat stage in the wind with no breakaway. What can you do? We have to treat our injured riders, help the rest of the team recover and move on, and then we have to race again tomorrow and the next day and 13 more stages after that. It’s not going to be easy, nothing in cycling ever is,” Sedoun said.
Fuglsang said that achieving a Top-10 will now be harder.
“The goal remains the same, it’s just not going to be any easier,” Fuglsang said.
Brajkovic said he would come back again.
“I go home, I recover, I do it again. That’s what I do,” Brajkovic said.
