Things truly started to get hard on the roads of the Giro during the past weekend. Two summit finishes and a highly explosive stage through the Marche region wrapped up the first week of the Italian Grand Tour. While Jonas Vingegaard claimed victory after relatively straightforward scenarios on Friday and Sunday, the attackers still found an opening on Saturday. Brieuc Rolland and Rémy Rochas tried to seize the opportunity, and the young Breton rider came close to a top-10 finish (11th) in Fermo. On Tuesday, the race resumes in Tuscany with an individual time trial particularly suited to Rémi Cavagna.
The first major showdown among the Giro general classification contenders was expected during stage 7, featuring a summit finish atop Blockhaus (13.6 km at 8.4%) in the Abruzzo region. As the big favorite for the race, Jonas Vingegaard intended to lay down a marker during this key stage. His team therefore controlled the race all day to set him up for the final climb. “On our side, we wanted to ride for Josh,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “It’s his first Grand Tour, he was still well placed overall, and we wanted to see what he could do. The goal was to position him well at the foot of the Blockhaus and have him produce the best climb possible.” The New Zealander held the peloton’s pace for four kilometers of climbing before cracking and eventually crossing the line in 41st place. “He cracked a little earlier than we expected, but it was also a very long 240-kilometer stage, partly in the rain, and after a full week of racing,” Frédéric continued. “Still, the guys worked really well for him, especially Brieuc and Rémy, who even waited for him. That actually motivated them for the following day’s stage, which suited them well.”
“It only takes one” – Frédéric Guesdon
On Saturday, the peloton headed toward Fermo, where the breakaway appeared to have every chance in a punchy final after 156 kilometers of racing. “The objective was obviously to get up the road, but it wasn’t easy because there were 100 kilometers of flat roads at the start, everyone wanted to be in the move, and there’s always the fear of getting caught out on those sections,” explained Frédéric. “The rouleurs were initially assigned to attack one after another, and it actually went pretty well with Cyril and Johan making it into a counterattack group of around thirty riders. But since the breakaway only formed after more than 90 kilometers, the gap was still small before the climbs, and Rémy and Brieuc took advantage of that to bridge across on the first ascent. Unfortunately, they came up against a very strong leading trio. The chasing group quickly realized it would be difficult to fight for the win, and the race became very tactical. Rémy repeatedly tried to relaunch attacks and pull turns, sacrificing himself for Brieuc.” At the finish, Jhonatan Narváez, part of the three-man breakaway, took the victory, while Brieuc narrowly missed out on the top 10 and finished only seven seconds away from seventh place. “It was a slight disappointment because I think we could have achieved a top-10 finish,” said Frédéric. “Still, the positive takeaway was that Rémy and Brieuc were going really well, and we didn’t have too many regrets.”
On Sunday, the race scenario proved much more straightforward toward the final climb to Corno alle Scale (11 km at 6%). “We quickly understood that the favorites wanted to fight it out for the stage win,” added Frédéric. “The group arrived almost together at the foot of the climb, and the idea afterward was to position Rémy and Josh, who both wanted to put in a strong climb.” The French rider eventually secured a respectable 25th place, two minutes behind stage winner Jonas Vingegaard. Josh Kench finished 34th on the day and gained one place overall (29th) to conclude this first week of racing. “We’re still lacking a bit of finishing touch on this Giro, but we’ve found a strong Rémy again, a strong Brieuc, and everyone is still here and healthy,” concluded Frédéric. “Josh was able to test himself, and now he’ll focus on stage hunting. We don’t yet have the result we would like, but there are still twelve days left. It only takes one! Obviously, the further we go, the fewer chances there are, but the positive point is that the guys are physically in good shape. There are still sprint stages to come, and Paul handled the mountains really well. The three climbers are all performing strongly. We know it only takes a small thing for everything to swing our way. We start every stage aiming to win it, even if we know it’s difficult. We have to keep the desire and the hope of achieving a very good result. Starting Tuesday, we’re aiming for a top 10, or even a top 5 with Rémi. It would be a great way to start the week on the right foot!”
