Saving the toughest day for last, today the peloton were faced the queen stage of the race at Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, with over 3500 metres of climbing crammed into just 131 kilometres of racing. As expected the racing was fierce from the gun, with multiple attacks flying from the peloton, including several from the team.
Eventually a move stuck, with Martijn Tusveld riding strongly to make the group of 16 that formed at the head of the race. Working well together, and despite a committed chase by those behind, the breakaway extended their advantage to over three minutes at one point.
The break and the gap thinned down though as the kilometres ticked by, with Tusveld riding well to be in contact with the group as it reduced to single figures in size as they hit the last categorised climb of the day – the Col de la Madone de Gorbio. Tusveld dug deep, fighting to hold onto the wheels of the fast-moving breakaway but he eventually had to let go and was caught by the peloton just before the summit.
Within the now reduced peloton, Michael Storer continued his good early season form by staying with the group for as long as possible before having to relinquish contact just before the summit of the climb. Powering on, he rode home solo to collect 13th place on the stage for the team, a result that was mirrored in the final GC standings. Tusveld’s efforts out front weren’t in vain either as he collected the KOM jersey for the team too.
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | BRAMBILLA Gianluca | Trek - Segafredo | 3:43:32 | 14 |
2 | GEOGHEGAN HART Tao | INEOS Grenadiers | 0:13 | 5 |
3 | O'CONNOR Ben | AG2R Citroën Team | ,, | 3 |
13 | STORER Michael | Team DSM | 3:06 | - |
35 | TUSVELD Martijn | Team DSM | 9:31 | - |
90 | HEINSCHKE Leon | Team DSM | 22:08 | - |
91 | VANDENABEELE Henri | Team DSM | ,, | - |
99 | BRENNER Marco | Team DSM | 25:43 | - |
115 | SALMON Martin | Team DSM | 36:17 | - |
1005 | VERMAERKE Kevin | Team DSM | -03:43:32 | - |