Late puncture means Belgian hope gets peloton’s time and loses out to race leader
A late puncture for Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) could have spelled disaster for the winner of stage one. Thankfully though, he was well inside the final three kilometres and so was given the same time as the main peloton; unfortunately this meant that he lost six seconds to the front group, which contained race leader Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) and fourth place Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky).
Van Den Broeck holds on to his second place, but is now eleven seconds behind Vinokourov on the same time as Wiggins, who moves into third after Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) also lost time.
“He lost time because Vino the last man was from a group of fourteen ahead of a split with the main peloton,” said Omega Pharma-Lotto team manager Herman Frison in Het Nieuwsblad. “In accordance with the rules of procedure Jurgen received the time of the peloton and not those of the [front] group.”
While the Belgian rues the lost time, the team knows that with a time trial and three mountaintop finishes at the end of the race, it should not make a difference by the time the peloton reaches La Toussuire on Sunday.
“It’s unfortunate what happened,” said Frison, “but we shouldn’t exaggerate the impact of six seconds; although we will of course be cursing if, on Sunday, he loses the race by a single second. But in Wednesday’s time trial, and the tough last three days, there will be greater time differences.”
Although the parcours of the second stage was relatively flat, crosswinds and traffic islands caused the peloton to break up into several pieces. A number of the overall contenders were forced to chase for several kilometres to make it up to the front once more.
“Thankfully,” said Frison, “in any event, Jurgen Van den Broeck got through this particular fast stage smoothly and avoided the echelons, unlike others like Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins, who had a heavy pursuit. It’s proof that he’s riding well and that we must have faith in the coming days.”
Van Den Broeck is looking for a strong performance in the Dauphiné, which he hopes will stand him in good stead for the upcoming Tour de France. The Belgian finished fourth in last years race and went on to finish fifth in the Tour, a best for his countrymen for almost a quarter of a decade; this year he hopes to go even better and crack the podium in Paris.