Better conditions would have seen him rise even higher, says Rik Verbrugghe
On a drying, but still slippery, 14.7km course in Roermond, Netherlands, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing) pulled himself back up to fourth place overall in the Eneco Tour. The 21-year-old American had slipped to ninth on the previous day, having held the leader’s jersey since his prologue victory on Monday, as he was unable to match the pace set by Philippe Gilbert’s Omega Pharma-Lotto team on the penultimate climb of the stage between Heers and Andenne.
The rain held off for the early starters in the time trial, before falling heavily on those in the middle of the field. By the time Phinney started the rain had stopped once more, but the roads were yet to appreciably dry and so he was not able to push as hard as he would have liked.
“It was pretty wet when I started and ended up clearing a bit, but the road were definitely wet,” he said. “I managed to stay upright, which was good, and I didn’t take too many risks.”
The winner of the stage was Jesse Sergent (BMC Racing), who finished just as the rain was starting and, with 17’55”, was the only rider to finish under 18 minutes. Phinney managed to post 18’25”, 30 seconds slower than Sergent but, more importantly, faster than most of his rivals in the overall classification.
Sergent was Phinney’s teammate in 2009 and 2010, when they both rode for the Trek-Livestrong under-23 team, then joined RadioShack together as stagieres this time last year. Phinney left for BMC Racing at the start of 2011, whereas Sergent stayed where he was.
“I’m happy for Jesse,” said Phinney. “He’s one of the best up-and-coming time triallists in the world.”
The roads continued to dry for the later starters, with outgoing race leader Gilbert having very little wet to deal with as he started 18 minutes after Phinney. Had Phinney been able to ride in the same conditions as Gilbert, he would have risen even further, according to BMC Racing’s assistant director Rik Verbrugghe.
“If he has the same conditions as the top guys, I think Taylor moves into the top two,” he said.
Phinney is now 27 seconds behind new race leader Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky), but only nine seconds separate him from David Millar on the third step of the podium. With plenty of bonus seconds on offer, at intermediate sprints as well as stage finishes, and with Phinney possessing a better sprint than most of his rivals, the 21-year-old might well make the overall race podium in the final two stages.