The race has memorably visited the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix in the past and also includes the gravel roads of the Plateau des Glières. However, Sunday’s stage was the biggest day of gravel roads in the race so far.
In total, the peloton took 32.3 km of ‘chemins blancs’ spanning the stage’s 199 km. The day, won by Anthony Turgis, did not deliver any major GC movement, but nevertheless, strong opinions were offered on the gravel by riders and team staff.
Points classification leader and double stage winner Biniyam Girmay was among the riders who livened up the race. The Eritrean Classics star was part of the main breakaway chasing group as he tried to score more green jersey points and challenge for the podium.
He would end the day in ninth place, increasing his points lead to six as he and Mathieu van der Poel failed to chase down the group from Turgis. Despite a solid result, he was not overly positive about the gravel roads, saying that the stage was very different from what it had previously looked like on paper.
“Today, it was different than it was on the profile,” Girme said. “We expected it was going to be a gravel race on paper, but we had really steep climbs. The sectors are also different compared to a few months ago.
“We expected to arrive with 40-50 people, but I think it surprised me, especially after the first two sectors when we got to the intermediate sprints. There was like a real wall of climbing.
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“Today, I found myself in an uncomfortable situation,” he said. “I was thinking ‘Okay, maybe I’ll survive’, but every single sector and every last kilometer, I was feeling really bad. But I just wanted to get as many points as I could. We got to the first group. “Couldn’t bring it back, but at least we got some points before the rest day.”
Race leader Tadej Pogačar was one voice coming out in favor of gravel, with the Slovenians, of course, holding the title on their Palmeras in the Strade Bianche and Jan Paraiso interior. He said after the stage that the reason for his many attacks during the day was that “I think I like to ride on gravel. I think it’s in my nature.”
Another voice in opposition to the gravel was that of Pogsar’s yellow jersey rival Remco Evenepoel, his teammate. Belgian classics specialist Yves Lampaert is no stranger to this kind of racing, even if he has raced more often on Flandrian cobbles than gravel roads.
Echoing Girme’s comments, he said Het Nieuwsblad, The race profile after the stage did not show a very steep climb experienced by the peloton, while they also noted that the gravel was much looser than strato Of Strade Bianche.
Lampert said, “The approach to the sectors was like riding the Koppenberg. Very intense.” “That’s why you start each sector painfully. I worked really hard and still couldn’t get into this sector – that says it all. It was a classic really.
“The sectors were a little close to each other, and they added too much gravel. At Strade Bianche, the gravel was too compacted and there you have the wheel tracks of the cars to ride on. Here, it was loose gravel. You’re Relying on luck – to have bad luck or not be behind someone who can’t control their bike, it was just too much for me today.”
Clas Lodewick, one of the directors guiding Evenepoel and Lampert at Soudal-QuickStep this Tour, was another surprise by the gravel conditions.
“Only gravel was lifted in the last six sectors,” he said. “(Organizers) artificialized it. I think it’s a shame and it’s treacherous because the people who planned it – almost everyone – are going to be in for a big surprise.”
Team boss Patrick Lefevre had previously expressed strong objection to the inclusion of such roads in Grand Tours and criticized them once again in a newspaper column last week. The Belgian’s opinion is largely shared by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe director sportif Rolf Aldag, who spoke after the stage.
Aldag said, “I still don’t like it in the Grand Tour. I love watching it, but unfortunately, I’m not in the spectator seat, I’m part of the race.” “There are big investments in the teams, and you don’t want to give up anything for pure luck or something. If Remco slips and breaks his collarbone in Sector 8 or any place, are you still looking at it? Would you enjoy it? Or would you say, ‘Maybe it would be better not’.
“It didn’t happen with Aleksandr Vlasov, who crashed really badly, but it could have happened in every other stage too. So, I think, leave it to the experts to do their race. That race. Why not do it in the future, if you feel like it, with experts, like you do in Paris-Roubaix or Strade Bianche?”
However, Aldag admitted that the racing – which saw isolated battles for stage victory as yellow jersey contenders Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar attacked the peloton – was entertaining.
“I have to say that from a viewer’s point of view, what Tadej is doing there, how Wisma reacts, it’s very impressive. There’s no doubt that it’s entertaining. So, I understand why people say That they like it.”
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