Groupama-FDJ came close to claiming a second win in a row on the Tour de Suisse. The day after Stefan Küng’s victory in the opening time trial, Arnaud Démare almost took the win himself on Monday, in a bunch sprint. After a solid lead-out by his teammates and also by the yellow jersey, the Frenchman however found himself boxed in for a few seconds in the final straight, and could not deliver his effort soon enough. At the finish, he was only beaten by Biniam Girmay, while Stefan Küng safely kept his leader’s jersey. Tuesday, a first summit finish is scheduled in Villars-sur-Ollon.
In Beromünster, the start of the first road stage of the 2023 Tour de Suisse 2023 proved to be rather calm. In this second day of racing, made for the sprinters, Michael Schär (AG2R-Citroën) and Nikolas Zukowsky (Q36.5) indeed took the lead right away, and without putting on a fight. The two men therefore led the way for the whole day, while Groupama-FDJ logically took their responsibilities due to Stefan Küng’s yellow jersey by taking command of the bunch. “We had two goals: defending Stefan’s jersey and going for the sprint for Arnaud”, specified Sébastien Joly. “The team did a great work once again, and we could rely on Quentin to manage the gap on the breakaway, which he did to perfection”. The French rider always kept the fugitives under five minutes before reducing their advantage to just three minutes around the halfway point. As we approached the final hour of racing,a few teams appeared at the front of the pack, and some ridersjoined the fight on the last two intermediate sprints of the day. “It was very tense in the last 50 kilometres but the whole day was fast”, said the yellow jersey Stefan Küng.
“Arnaud definitely had the legs to win“, Sébastien Joly
About thirty kilometres from the finish, a huge crash came as a proof of that tension. Several riders found themselves on the ground, but none from Groupama-FDJ. The peloton calmed down for a bit, but the last climb of the stage (3.5 km at 4.6%) came quickly and Jumbo-Visma tried to accelerate to drop the pure sprinters. “I was a little worried about the climb, but I was in the first 15-20 positions at the top, and I saw other sprinters struggling and losing positions,” added Arnaud Démare. This final obstacle eventually did little damage, and the bunch was still very big heading to Nottwil. “Quentin did a great job to catch the breakaway, but everyone did a good job, especially Romain and Sam in the final, and even Stefan who came to help even if it wasn’t really planned,” said Arnaud Démare. “If I am able to, I will always try to give a hand, because the goal is for the team to win, no matter who and no matter how,” said the Swiss rider. “The two youngsters did a very good job, each one with his role, Stefan came to help, then Miles finished the job,” summed up Sébastien. The team’s sprinter was therefore able to enter the last kilometre in good position, then moved himself into the wheel of Wout van Aert just over 300 metres from the finish.
The French champion seemed to have the ideal position to finish it off, but the door suddenly closed in front of him, and he therefore had to wait a few – but long – seconds to resume his effort. “I was blocked behind Wout and Biniam”, he confirmed. “I think it was possible to win, but the timing was too tight. I sprinted for barely 100 metres, and it was a fast finish as always in Switzerland. I would have liked to win, that’s for sure… Physically, I’m doing well. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of sprints here. Today was an opportunity. There may be another before the final time trial, but now I’llhave to wait”. “Arnaud found the opening quite late, and we’re disappointed for sure, because I think he definitely had the legs to win,” confirmed Sébastien. The Groupama-FDJ rider had to settle with second place for the day, behind Biniam Girmay and in front of Wout van Aert. Stefan Küng finished within the pack, thus retaining the yellow jersey on the eve of the first mountain stage of the Tour de Suisse. “It was still a good day, and we will do our best tomorrow to defend the jersey,” concluded Stefan, now leading for five seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel.
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