GINO MÄDER TAKES SECOND PLACE ON QUEEN’S STAGE OF PARIS-NICE, WHILE MIKEL LANDA FINISHES FOURTH IN TIRRENO-ADRIATICO.
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Gino Mäder put on an impressive display on Stage 7 of Paris-Nice riding in the breakaway and just being pipped to the line by the race leader Primoz RogliÄ (Jumbo Visma) in the last 20 meters of the race.
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| The queen stage route had some changes due to Covid restrictions in Nice and was therefore shortened to 119km finishing on the top of La Colmiane. It was on the first climb of the day on Côte de Gilette, where a breakaway of 13 riders formed, including Teuns and Mäder. |
The peloton controlled the gap, ensuring the breakaway did not cause any threat to the GC, and with the race coming to the bottom of Colmiane, the peloton cut the cap to around a minute. At 7km to go, Mäder attacked and moved away from the rest of the breakaway. It appeared Mäder had it covered with a gap of around 30 seconds with 3km to go, but a final attack by, RogliÄ moved him away from the rest of the GC and beat Gino to the line.
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Despite coming so close, Gino sees the positives on a day like today “Today was an absolutely awesome day for the team with Jack Haig moving up to 9th in the GC. We had Dylan and me in the breakaway, and from the beginning, I felt quite well, and I hoped to get relatively fresh to the final, and as soon as we hit the final slopes, it was just a 40-minute all-out effort, and unfortunately, RogliÄ caught me in the final and delegated me to second place, but I’m still super happy with my performance today, and proud to have done such a good job with all the team.”
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Sports director Neil Stephens shared his thoughts on the day “Obviously right from the start, there was a climb, and we knew it would be an aggressive start. The best way to control the situation was to have Dylan and Gino in the front giving us options. Once we knew back in the bunch that the GC was okay with Jack, who moved up to 9th, we focused our energy on winning the stage with Gino. At the finish, he was by far the best climber in the group and is in really great shape at the moment, and his rivals knew that and tried to benefit from his efforts. Eventually, when he did attack, I must admit from 5km out, I didn’t think he would have a chance to win the stage. We tried to give him as much support and advice from the team car as we could, and he did an incredible job just to hang on to lose only in the last 20 metres. So fantastic effort from Gino and the boys. Every day we are fighting not only for the GC but for that stage result.” |
The final stage of Paris-Nice has also been cut short due to Covid restrictions in Nice. Stage 8 will now be 92.7km long, starting in Le-Plan-Du-Var and finishing in Levens.
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Meanwhile, in Italy, Team Bahrain Victorious captain Mikel Landa put on another strong ride and battled to fourth place in the queen stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico (stage 4 Terni-Prati di Tivo, 148 km). He remained in 4th place overall at 38” to the new GC leader PogaÄar.
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| (All pictures can be used for editorial and non-commercial usages only and are copyright @Bettiniphoto @TeamBahrainVictorious) |
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