this post was submitted on 08 May 2025
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Disappointing stage, given what was proposed by the organiser, and given that tomorrow is the Time Trial, about which only leaders, outsiders and TT specialists should care.
Nobody fought for anything, except the 4 breakaway riders for the mountain points of the first climb which would determine the jersey wearer for tomorrow. Nobody in the bunch wanted it apparently, as the peloton who never let them loose could have easily caught this breakaway before the summit of this 13 km long climb.
Fortunato (๐ฎ๐น Astana) grabbed the mountain points of the first passage over the circuit climb because he was the only one who cared a little bit (he made no real attack, he just passed in front of the rider was pulling the peloton), nobody else contested it (perhaps a Barhain a bit?). Nobody in the bunch attempted to get the intermediate sprints points despite the fact that they grant big points, or the Red Bull km sprint (same thing: the peloton could almost have come back any time it wanted so).
The result of such non-fight is, as often: 2 GC leaders already gone in the ambulance: Landa (๐ช๐ธ Soudal-QS) and Bouchard (๐ซ๐ท Decathlon). ๐ข
I reckon we should see Fortunato trying to get more mountain points in the following days, it could be a goal for him.
So you're an optimist, nothing wrong with that :D The stage went pretty much as I expected it to...
This is the first time I am being called so ๐
Anyway, it looked like a common expectation on the (French) web forums I read. I mean, there was nothing to lose for most potential contenders of today's stage if it was raced as breakaway/puncher race, tomorrow is not their race. And for smaller riders, there were plenty of jerseys/distinctions that could be gotten, more easily than in future stages.
What they got today is a glacial pace all day long, until Trek starting pulling in the last 30-40 km. And Trek couldn't have pulled so long, and so accurately strongly in the final, if they had to chase for real during the race. By 'accurately', I mean that, in the end, Ciccone was pulling as strong as possible while keeping Pedersen and his launcher Vacek in his wheel. Before that, they could employ successively at least 3 other teammates, which could still be there and fresh because of the glacial pace and the lack of chase.
So all other teams/riders were leaving the victory to Trek/Visma, and the side classifications to (5 then) 4 breakaway riders, before a 'neutral' day. 2 of those teams ended up with the extra bonus of losing their leader.