Swiss rider says Porte is biggest rival, but HTC Columbia has the power to control the race
Feeling bullish after winning the third stage of the Tour of Britain in fine style, new race leader Michael Albasini said that he believes that he and his team-mates can hold on to the yellow jersey until the race conclusion this Saturday.
“Yes, of course!” he said when asked if he believed he could keep the yellow jersey. “It is a big goal to bring the jersey to London. If you look at the race today, you see a really strong HTC Columbia team. We were always attacking, and even on the climb, our sprinters made the tempo. With team-mates like Tony Martin, Grabsche, Greipel, Pinotti and Renshaw, I am sure that we can do it.”
Albasini started the day as the closest rival to stage two winner Greg Henderson, having finished as runner-up to him in Stoke on Trent. He was 14 seconds behind but, knowing he had a better history in the climbs, knew what he and his team had to do in order to take control.
“I felt really good from the start today. Our tactic was to make the race fast and also hard, so that we could maybe try something on the long climb,” he explained. “Initially, it was difficult to make a difference. For 50 kilometres there were many attacks. Then on the climb, my team made a good piece from the beginning, and then rode really hard up there together with the riders from Vacansoleil.”
That was enough to see Henderson off, and although Bradley Wiggins was in there, he opted to drop back to help the yellow jersey try to get back in contact. Team Sky chased hard but had burned many of its matches early on; ahead, Albasini was on the way to getting clear of his group and closing up on those ahead.
“There was a small group at the top and then on the downhill it was wet and fast,” he said. “Some riders were a bit scared and then Tony Martin and I rode full gas. You always had to pedal as it was very windy, so we made a small gap and then we got away.
“We tried to chase the leading group with the goal of maybe taking some seconds in the bonification sprint, but then we saw that nobody was coming from behind and we tried to go to the finish, even though it was a really long way away. Tony did a really good job for me…it was just me and him to ride, to pull it along, so it was a really hard 40 kilometres.”
He said that Martin did the bulk of the work inside the final ten kilometres as the German rider wanted to give his team-mate a break and to ensure that he was as fresh as possible for the big climb of Constitution Hill. After they caught the group ahead, he admitted that he initially didn’t realise that Cameron Meyer (Garmin Transitions) was still out front. The Australian was finally caught on the outskirts of the city, yet would be strong enough to take fourth.
Albasini was most concerned with taking the jersey, yet was strong enough to also snag the stage win. He didn’t set out to do so, as such, but had the power to drop the other riders.
“I didn’t attack at the end…we got to the steep climb near the finish but I reached it as first rider and went my own tempo,” he said. “I kept something in reserve so if somebody attacked, I could follow. Then I could see that nobody was coming, so I went a little bit faster.”
He ended the day one minute 26 seconds ahead of Henderson and a further two seconds up on Richie Porte. Borut Bozic and his Vacansoleil team-mate Johnny Hoogerland are fourth and fifth, one minute 41 and one minute 46 back respectively, while the rest of the field are at least two minutes back.
Porte rode away from the chasing group on Constitution Hill, picking up seventh on the stage, and was best placed of those challengers. Unsurprisingly, he is seen as a big threat.
“My biggest rival is Richie Porte. He is in good shape,” he said. “We saw that in the first few days…he was attacking, he was riding really well. But I think with my team, we can follow him and bring the jersey to the finish.”
If he does, it will be a big moment in his career. “Last year I won the Tour of Austria. It was a really important victory. If I can win here, it would be the second GC victory for me. That is important to me and the team, and we’ll do what we can do to achieve that.”