Cycling
Hugo Houle avoids the worst in the second stage
(Montreal) The wind and the falls marked the second stage of Paris-Nice, Monday, on the 159 kilometers separating Auffargis and Orléans. Hugo Houle (Israel-First Tech), 47and of the day, reached the finish in the third group 38 seconds behind the winner, Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl).
Houle’s teammates, Guillaume Boivin (+6 minutes 43 seconds) and James Piccoli (+9 minutes 7 seconds), respectively finished 122and and 143and.
“It was a really big day where there was a lot of wind. There were a lot of breaks in the peloton, which caused several rungs, in addition to numerous crashes,” maintained Houle, who was able to avoid the worst twice rather than once during this stage.
“A fall made me lose the first group and I found myself in the second which was still quite solid with good riders. We came back to about ten seconds (of the first group) with four or five kilometers to go, but another fall slowed the group down. »
In an interview with Sportcom, the athlete from Sainte-Perpétue still wondered how he could have managed to get away unscathed from this second fall where Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) found themselves on the ground.
“He (Jorgenson) practically rolled over my left shoe and I’m really scared of falling too. I don’t know how I managed to stay on the bike. »
Meanwhile up front, time trial specialist Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost) tried to save himself solo, but he was caught by the first group with the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl in the lead, in the last two kilometres.
Yellow jersey Christophe Laporte (Jumbo Visma) momentarily took control down the stretch to bring his sprinter Wout Van Aert, but the latter was overtaken on the line by Fabio Jakobsen who finished the work of his Quick-Step teammates Alpha Vinyl.
Houle explained that he will bet more on the stages presented after the time trial on Wednesday, because his team suffered heavy losses on Monday: Rudy Barbier did not start the stage, Mads Würtz Schmidtz abandoned and Guillaume Boivin was bothered by back pain.
“We are limited in numbers, so it makes things a bit complicated, but for my part, I am ready and in good shape. I’m going to do my best after the time trial to be ahead for the team and be on the hunt for a stage and big breakaways. I know the roads of the last two stages well, because that’s where I live, so it will be an advantage for me. »
Christophe Laporte retains the leader’s yellow jersey with a 5-second lead over Wout Van Aert. Swell is 30and (+1 minute 17 seconds), Boivin 94and (+8 minutes 35 seconds) and Piccoli 124and (+12 minutes 7 seconds).
Stopwatch time in Tirreno-Adriatico
At the same time, in Italy, another part of the international peloton took the start of the first stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, a 14 kilometer individual time trial in the streets of Lido di Camaiore.
The reigning world champion in the specialty, the Italian Filippo Ganna (INEOS-Grenadiers), was the fastest of the day, while he was the only one to maintain an average speed above 54 km / h . In the standings, he was followed by Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, +11 seconds) and Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates, +18 seconds).
The only Canadian registered, Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ) was 113and of the day at 1 minute 37 seconds from Ganna. His highest ranked teammate was Swede Tobias Ludvigsson (+32 seconds), seventh.
The peloton will set off on the longest stage of this 2022 edition on Tuesday, over the 219 kilometers which will separate Camaiore and Sovicille.
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Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.