As expected, the second stage of the Tour Down Under brought its share of clarifications on Thursday, and unfortunately for Groupama-FDJ United, the hopes of a good overall classification fade in Uraidla. Jussi Veikkanen’s riders were unable to keep up with the 20-rider group that contested the top-10 places behind the winning duo from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Jay Vine and Jhonatan Narvaez. The team will now look for all the opportunities during the rest of the week.
For some, this second day of racing in the Tour Down Under, featuring the double ascent of Corkscrew, promised to be just as decisive as the traditional Willunga Hill stage. According to race director Stuart O’Grady himself, it was even the hardest stage in the history of the event. In detail, it covered 148 kilometres and included no fewer than 2,800 meters of elevation gain on very rolling terrain. “We did a recon of the stage and knew that the approach to the climb was quite technical and fast,” explained Jussi Veikkanen. “We handled the first part of the day quite well. A breakaway of seven riders went quite early, then UAE Team Emirates-XRG took control.” As the day before, with the breakaway of Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet and Enzo Paleni, the gap was nevertheless kept constantly under three minutes.
“We’re going to find new objectives,” Jussi Veikkanen
Around mid-race, the peloton tackled the first ascent of Corkscrew (3.6 km at 6.7%), itself part of a longer uphill section (9 km at 5%). “The boys were in a good position for this first climb,” Jussi said. “However, a small crash briefly split the peloton in two about ten kilometers before the second ascent. Guillaume was behind, he managed to come back after a short effort, but then we witnessed a dominant display from UAE.” While Groupama-FDJ United’s main cards were still present in the bunch with fifteen kilometres to go, they were ultimately unable to keep up with the pace set by Adam Yates, then by Jay Vine and Jhonatan Narvaez. The latter two broke clear together two kilometres further and reached the finish way ahead of the rest.A first chasing group crossed the line one minute later, while Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet, Kevin Geniets and Tom Donnenwirth finished at 2’17. Groupama-FDJ United now appears to be out of contention for the overall classification. “We’re going to find new objectives,” Jussi concluded. “We’ll build new momentum and try to race like we did yesterday. We’ll be on the offensive.”
