(Bayonne) Guillaume Boivin and Hugo Houle played “Where is Corbin? on the occasion of the first massive sprint of the Tour de France, Monday afternoon, in Bayonne.
Unlike the famous character ofWhere is Charlie ?, Corbin Strong was not wearing a red and white striped beanie and vest. The 23-year-old New Zealander rode more in blue, white and orange.
Even if the new uniform of Israel-Premier Tech is conspicuous, it was difficult to spot in the first places of the colorful peloton which tumbled at more than 70 km / h on the bridge which spans the Nive river. The rowers who rowed on its brown waters were probably disheveled.
At their first experience together in this context, Houle and Boivin, the only two locomotives of the modest “train” of IPT, lost their single car, Strong finishing 16e of the third stage won by the Belgian Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
“It was a good first try in a sprint like that, judged the rookie. We did not get a good result, but the boys really did a good job in approach. With the resources we have, we did a pretty good job of getting into position. »
It was shortly after that the operation “We must place Private Corbin” came to a halt. In a roundabout at 2.4 km, Houle had to negotiate a slight bottleneck.
“I went up them when it was necessary, two kilometers away, he noted as he got off the bike. I was in the wheel of Wout van Aert, calm. It was perfect. »
The problem is that Strong was gone.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ISRAEL-PREMIER TECH
Corbin Strong
“He’s not following! swung Houle when Boivin joined him on the bus. “You saw, before the roundabout, I brought you…”
“We didn’t go through, but he wasn’t there, confirmed Boivin. I did not force too much to pass. Then I let myself down to get it. He put me back in the DSM group and I went after. In the last kilometer, I said to myself: I’m not going to come back to make waves and get him locked up. Do you understand what I mean? »
“I was following, continued Houle. [Mads] Pedersen [9e] hit me in the face and I let Sagan pass so as not to take any risks. I have fun. »
At his baptism of the Tour, Corbin Strong had put forward his profile as a puncher / sprinter in the breakouts around Bilbao by settling the second group to rank 15e. On this first occasion for the real big cars to roar their engines, he did not expect to fight with the best in Bayonne. A place in the top 10 would have satisfied him.
“It would have been a good first run, but I missed it by a few positions,” admitted the 5’6, 140 lb athlete. It was a good experience. We will continue to learn. Hopefully I can fight for the win in the next few [sprints]. »
Boivin, his roommate, was also looking ahead.
We certainly have the legs to be there, but three of us aren’t very many. You have to take a bit of a risk and we haven’t done a lot of sprints together. It may just get better from today. At least everyone stayed up. We will try again tomorrow.
Guillaume Boivin
In a good mood, Houle shared the same optimism: “We lack a bit of experience. It’s the first time I run with them for the sprints. It is therefore difficult to always remain grouped. But the intention was there. We ran well, we were there in the final and we tried. »
The two men agreed to pose to immortalize this first “train” of Israel-Premier Tech at the Tour de France 2023.
“It’s limited in ost… the train!” Houle giggled before going to the shower on the bus, already ready to leave for the next stage. Another sprint is to be expected between Dax and Nogaro. Will they still play “Where’s Corbin?” What if Boivin tried his luck?
