Stage four of Tirreno-Adriatico looked like it could be a good opportunity for the breakaway. Rémy Rochas therefore did everything he could to make it into the good move this Thursday, after a long solo chase early in the race. Up front, the French climber then collected a few points in the mountain’s classification, but the peloton ultimately gave the escapees no chance. In a punchy and lively final, Mathieu van der Poel took the victory, while Clément Braz Afonso crossed the line fourteen seconds later.
For the third consecutive day, the Tirreno-Adriatico peloton had more than 200 kilometres to cover this Thursday, in an uncertain fourth stage featuring a challenging profile with over 2,700 metres of elevation gain. Two long climbs were positioned in the first half of the race before the route headed down towards the Adriatic Sea, yet the battle for the breakaway had already begun well before those ascents. “We really wanted to get into the break because we thought there was a small chance it could go all the way,” explained Yvon Caër. “We thought it would take a while before the break went, but after 3–4 kilometres a group of eleven riders got away and we didn’t have anyone up there,” said Rémy Rochas. “We tried to make some counter attacks in the peloton several times. I attacked myself at one point but unfortunately the peloton stopped right behind me, and I found myself alone about ten kilometres from the bottom of the climb. I was already a minute behind, and it was quite complicated with my small build against the stronger riders who were up the road. I tried to manage my effort until the climb, which I rode at a good pace. In the end I managed to make it across after a big effort.”
“My form is gradually coming back” – Rémy Rochas
After thirty minutes of chasing on his own, the Groupama-FDJ United rider managed to bridge across to the initial breakaway and even took second place over the top of the first climb. “At the start of the week we said we would try to take every opportunity, and he went for the mountain points to give himself a target,” added Yvon. “Of course he spent some energy during the chase, but we quickly realized the peloton wasn’t willing to let the break go. The teams of the leaders wanted a fight between the strongest riders.” Approaching the Adriatic coast, the gap had already been reduced to two minutes and the breakaway also began to split apart. “We had a good day out front and worked well together, until the final part where things became a bit more disorganized,” said Rémy. “That was also the moment when I personally started to run out of legs. I paid a bit for the efforts I made earlier.” Dropped from the breakaway, the Frenchman was caught by the peloton twenty-five kilometres from the finish, which was then chasing hard behind the last remaining escapee. “I struggled a bit at the start of the season, but my form is gradually coming back,” Rémy explained. “Today I felt really good and the goal will be to try to seize other opportunities towards the end of the week.”
A stretched and nervous peloton reached the foot of the day’s final climb in Tortoreto (1.5 km at 8.4%), located twelve kilometres from the finish, where the race quickly exploded. “We were a bit off in terms of positioning,” said Yvon. “We came into the climb quite far back, although it was difficult to do much better. We had to make a big effort. Clément managed to get back onto the group of favorites, but he was just missing a little something at the top when things really blew apart. He paid for the effort he made to close the gap at the bottom. That’s what made the difference. It’s a bit frustrating, but I really appreciated the boys’ commitment from start to finish.” At the top of the final climb, Clément Braz was in a chasing group twenty seconds behind around ten leaders who eventually fought for the stage win. Mathieu van der Poel took the victory, while the Groupama-FDJ United rider finished 20th, fourteen seconds later. “He’s in good condition,” Yvon concluded. “We’ll make clearer choices over the next two days so that he’s better positioned at the foot of the climbs, but we’re not ruling out him going in the breakaway either, because it will be difficult to aim for a top ten overall anyway. We need to keep racing aggressively and fight with the means we have.”
