Karl Vannieuwkerke and José De Cauwer sympathized with escapees Alessandro De Marchi and Simon Clarke in the 6th stage of the Tour of Italy, but eventually saw Mads Pedersen win. For the rest, their daily Giro analysis is eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s mountain stage.
Karl Vannieuwkerke: “3rd sprint and 3rd different winner today, but above all: are De Marchi and Clarke missing a huge opportunity?”
Jose DeCauwer: “Two experienced riders, men of age, who are matured. But they let it go in the last one and a half kilometers by just sitting in the wheel. Too bad.”
“In the past it would certainly have been thrown into an agreement. Not now. That is out of fashion. Then you are heading for something like that.”
“I thought along the way De Marchi was the most eager, but towards the end Clarke came through.”
Karl: “Suppose you are team leader of one of those two, would you give a pat on the back or a pat on the back?”
José: “You should talk to that rider. There must have been one rider who felt confident in the sprint.”
Karl: “If they had won, it would have been a bit by the grace of the sprinter teams. The organization was not optimal. Some teams refused to drive.”
José: “Alpecin-Deceuninck, for example. I thought: now they are going to come anyway. But then they were gone again. Then they let themselves be pushed away by the Ineos men, because Thomas had fallen behind in that dangerous final.”
Karl: “No Cavendish in the sprint, he came in far behind the rest. Will it be a difficult story for him in this Giro?”
José: “Initially I thought it wouldn’t be too bad, but yesterday that crash came. We don’t know what that meant for him (today he fell again, ed.). It would be a shame if he had to leave this Giro, but the pain points are coming on it now.”
Karl: “Was this an ideal day for the riders who fell yesterday to lick their wounds?”
José: “If there can be an ideal day after a crash, this was one. The weather conditions were good, they climbed the climbs calmly.”
“In the final you saw that Remco was still nervous about the audience. That indicates stress. But after those 2 falls he can be happy that it turned out that way.”
Karl: “You keep talking about that stress at Evenepoel. You are stressing him out!”
José: “No, no, not at all! I see what I see. What else can I say?”
“He must be a bit scared after those falls yesterday. It only takes a spectator to move a little further, or a child who is not paying attention. I can imagine that you are a bit more angry after those falls.”
Karl: “Tomorrow we’ll have an uphill finish, to the Gran Sasso. The test we didn’t get on Tuesday, we’ll get it tomorrow, right?”
José: “Tomorrow we will definitely get a race. That climb of Gran Sasso is very long, 40 kilometers in total. Especially the last 5 kilometers. It is also the 7th day, after a tough week.”
“Tomorrow we will get differences anyway. Or I really don’t remember anything about it.”
Karl: “Will we know tomorrow whether yesterday’s crashes left traces on Remco?”
José: “Also with others, such as Roglic. Everyone has already shared the blows.”
“The time trial has given a picture that Remco is x number of percent better than the rest. But that is not the value ratio that we will see tomorrow. He may also be the better one, but the difference will be less than in the time trial.”
Karl: “But if he is better than the others tomorrow and can take time, then he is completely safe.”
José: “Then they all have a problem. Then everything is clear.”
“But first eat and drink well. Sleep well with your hands above the covers. And tomorrow fullbak.”
