Unlike the first stage, the sprinters didn’t get the win on Sunday’s second stage of the Tour de Wallonie. A three-man breakaway managed to stay away from the peloton, with Lewis Bower claiming seventh place. This is the young New Zealander’s best result since joining the WorldTour team last May.
Starting from Huy on Sunday, the Tour de Wallonie didn’t feature the local “wall.” However, after just four kilometres, the Gives hill (2.6 km at a 5% gradient) could have led to an open race. That’s also what the Groupama-FDJ cycling team was hoping for. “The climb wasn’t too hard, but it wasn’t too easy either,” explained William Green. “So the goal was to be offensive and be in the mix. Rémy went clear initially, which was really good, with the goal of taking some bonus seconds. There was a counterattack, with Kevin, and we ended up with twelve riders in front, including two from our team. It was a pretty strong and dangerous group with riders like Vacek, so the peloton chased very hard to bring it back, before another breakaway developed.” Despite a dynamic start to the race, only five riders eventually took the lead, and the traditional scenario took place with the peloton controlled by the race leader’s team. With about sixty kilometers to go, the riders tackled the circuit around Sambreville, which had to be covered completely twice.
“The goal has been achieved,” William Green
The first lap was completed in quite a calm way, but in the second, the tension clearly increased. “We knew the last lap was going to be very nervous, with lots of small, technical roads,” William added. “When the gap started to drop below a minute, I told Kevin to be vigilant, and he was, as he got into a counterattack.” With about ten riders, the Luxembourger broke away from the peloton about thirty kilometres from the finish line. The day’s breakaway was caught, but attacks kept on coming, and three riders managed to break away from the same group. “Kevin was really there, in the race, but the legs just weren’t there to follow at that point,” William said. “We knew we had to watch Oliver Knight, but if the legs say no, the legs say no.” The trio, who went clear with twenty kilometres to go, managed to build a thirty-second lead over the peloton, which struggled to make up ground. Three kilometers from the finish, the gap was still twenty seconds, and despite a frantic chase in the final moments, the breakaway was able to resist the sprinters’ comeback, with victory going to Oliver Knight.In the bunch, Lewis Bower was still able to secure fourth place in the sprint, which meant seventh of the day. “The second objective of the day was to go for the sprint with Lewis,” William added. “This is his first stage race since joining the WorldTeam, and we set a realistic goal of top 10. We developed a strategy around him for the final. Unfortunately, Lorenzo and then Olivier punctured at crucial moments, and these were the two guys designated to support him. We’re still very satisfied with seventh place; we’ve achieved our goal, but it’s certainly possible to do better with the help of others and without being boxed in. The big disappointment of the day, however, is losing Rémy on the general classification. He punctured ten kilometers from the finish, and it was going to full gas at that point. With the riders dropped and the barrages, he didn’t manage to back.” The French climber therefore lost more than two minutes, and only Lewis Bower, Tom Donnenwirth, Kevin Geniets, and Lorenzo Germani finished in the peloton. On Monday, the pack will head towards Antoing. “Tomorrow, it should be a more traditional sprint stage,” concluded William. “We’ll try again with Lewis. He’s gained confidence, and we’ll try to support him with the full team.”
