Читать книгу The Pain and the Glory: The Official Team Sky Diary of the Giro Campaign and Tour Victory - Chris Froome - Страница 9
ОглавлениеThe Giro always throws in a couple of hard stages early on, and the 246km stage from Policastro Bussentino down the Mediterranean coast to Serra San Bruno was a trademark shocker. As legs were beginning to long for the masseur’s attention on the second-longest stage of the race, up loomed the Category-3 climb of Vibo Valentia, followed by the Category-2 challenge of Croce Ferrata and a 7km downhill run to a finish on cobbles. ‘The Giro finishes are always a bit more technical,’ warned team principal Sir Dave Brailsford. ‘You have to be on your guard, focused and concentrated, ready for any attack at any time.’
Braced for more than six hours of racing, for overexcited breakaways and for probing GC moves, Team Sky put on a dominant display of teamwork, particularly on the climb up Croce Ferrata and the hazardous descent to the finish. ‘We’ve our own style of racing,’ said Knees. ‘As we’re strong throughout the team, we make races hard tempo so everyone has to fight to stay on our wheel. We pull at such a pace that only very few can follow us. The Giro is always a bit different. It’s more chaotic, harder to control. The plan was to get Bradley in pink – any moment would be fine, we didn’t target a stage – and defend the lead. Then life becomes easier. Taking control of a race is what we’re good at. Fighting to get control of a race is more difficult.’
Going into battle with Knees as bodyguard and road captain could be classed as one of Team Sky’s famous ‘marginal gains’. The German – who at 1.94m is unusually tall for a professional cyclist – first rode in support of Wiggins in the 2011 Tour de France. Since then, he has been a key domestique on the flat and in low mountains, a hugely effective windshield and periscope in the peloton. ‘My role is to stay around him [Wiggins] and look out for potential problems. He’s the man who needs to conserve energy. If he sees a hole and moves up, I can expend energy to come up ahead of him to protect him from the wind. He gets a good slipstream behind me. And because I’m so tall, I have a great race overview. It’s a big plus for me and my team. I can see how the bunch is moving. I can see before anyone else if there’s a left or right turn coming. I can assess what the others are doing and weigh up the risks to ensure Bradley stays safe.’
The most demoralising scenario, of course, is when a long spell of hard work is ruined by a moment of bad luck. As the sun disappeared, grey clouds descended and damp fog shrouded the route up Vibo Valentia. Nibali had put on a little look-at-me show of descending bravura, but all was on track. Wiggins, led by Urán, Henao and Siutsou at a pace that had riders falling off the back of the group, was well placed. Could this be the day he went into pink?
But no, the last 20 minutes erupted into all sorts of drama on the descent. A crash involving Cristiano Salerno of Italy on the approach to the final stretch held up the Team Sky leader. Confusion reigned. The 3km rule – which states that riders caught up in such incidents within that distance of the finish line are not penalised – was not applied. The race jury decided that Wiggins had already been gapped in the final run-in and was not hindered by the crash. As a result, he fell from second to sixth in the general classification, 34 seconds behind race leader Paolini. ‘You can gain hard-earned seconds here and there, and then you can lose time very quickly,’ said Brailsford, after confirmation of the results. ‘Ultimately, this first week’s all about staying in contention. This race will be won and lost in the time trials and the high mountains. Bradley’s in great shape, mentally and physically.’
Urán, who moved to second overall behind Paolini, added a further positive perspective. ‘Second for me doesn’t mean anything. Bradley and the GC guys are all up there. Long-term, it makes no difference. I’m not thinking about my position. I’ve other things on my mind – to work for Bradley. It’s a long race.’
