After yesterday’s sprint finale, today’s stage at the Alpes Isère Tour tackled some more hilly terrain which would tempt the attackers throughout the day; and those looking to upset another sprint finish. Riding attentively from the gun, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL covered multiple moves before the elastic eventually snapped and Ryan Gal made it into a break that went clear. Working well together, their advantage reached a maximum of almost four minutes before the peloton started to reel them in ahead of the hilly zone in the final third of the day. Gal always stayed in the front group of the break as it split and regrouped over the climbs, but back in the peloton there were riders looking to make the race tough. On one of the toughest climbs, a strong group then broke clear from the bunch, catching and passing Gal’s break on the next ascent. From there, Gal fought it out to the line in group two for 13th place on the day, while the peloton finished around 20 seconds behinds his group.
Gal expressed: “Our first goal of the day was to have someone in a good break. After several attempts from us all, I eventually ended up in the break that went away. The pace was high all day and we could keep a good gap on the peloton. Before the final climb some of the strong guys who attacked out of the peloton then bridged to us. Unfortunately, I missed a bit after a long day out in front to then go with the first group on that last climb, so I ended up in the second group riding for eighth place. It was a bit of a chaotic sprint and in the end I finished in 13th place. Overall, I think it was a good day for the team and we will keep fighting for more in the next days.”
