I'm quite happy with second here. It's about 10 years since I last reached a Grand Tour in PCM career so I can't recall exactly but this might be my best GC I ever did in a GT
Pascal Ackermann won the opening and the closing stage of the Tour of Norway after two bunch sprints. But the real action went down in between those stage with some hard and entertaining racing.
Tao Geoghegan Hart won the first hilly stage of the race, but it would be Van Aert's race in the end. The Belgian finished third in the stage won by Hart, then finished second after leading out Roosen to a stage win to move into the leader's jersey.
Van Aert would get his own stage win to double up on the yellow jersey in what was classified as a flat stage but had a very tricky finish which resulted in the perhaps the most close finish I've ever witness with 4 riders fighting for the victory.
4 riders at the photofinish: Sagan - Van Aert - Van Poppel - Ackermann
The perfect preparation race for the Tour de France. Well, not this year as only a few of the important riders we expect to see at the start of the French Grand Tour were present on startlist here.
The three flat stages that ended in a mass sprint each saw a different winner with Theuns, Consonni and Walscheid taking a stage each.
The important things for the GC started with the third stage when the TTT was held. The stage ended with a climb and this caused some huge gaps being created as Jumbo won the stage by 42 seconds in front of the team that came in second, Groupama FDJ.
Another stellar performance in a TTT for Jumbo
With such an important gap in the GC, Jumbo were not interested in chasing down breakaways and just focused on their GC rivals which three winning breakaways, two of which were won by Tiesj Benoot, while another one went to Kenny Elissonde.
Bennot - the most combative rider of the race
In terms of time, Reichenbach and Bauchmann were Kruiswijk's biggest rivals after the TTT, but in terms of actual racing Jakob Fuglsang was the rider to follow. The Dane manage to grab the stage win in the fifth stage, but his biggest attack came in the last stage. He was only able to make up just one of the two minutes that distanced him from Kruijswijk before the stage.
De Plus and Powless did a fantastic job pacing Kruijswijk on the last climb and keeping him in good distance to Fuglsang even though this meant Powless lost his place on the overall podium.
One of the goals for our Dutch sponsors this year. And looking at the startlist it became clear that it will be a battle between Jumbo and Peter Sagan for the stage win.
With a hilly fourth stage, it became clear that Groenewegen will not be able to count for the GC so it was Danny Van Poppel who became our leader for the GC and this was shown in the first mass sprint as Groenewegen let Van Poppel take the win.
Danny Van Poppel celebrating his stage win
Peter Sagan would take the next stage, but decided not to contest for the stage win in the hilly fourth stage and instead it was his team - mate, McCarthy who took the win, with Van Poppel taking second and moving into the leader's jersey.
After letting Van Poppel take the stage win in the first sprint, Groenewegen took a win of his own in the last stage, with Danny coming in second and securing the overall win.
Tamijo wrote:
Last 3 races had was Jumbo all over the place, perfect going into the Tour soon.
Indeed some great results which should be great for morale with the TdF right around the corner.
I'm really interested to see how Groenewegen will do against the big sprinters in a big race with Teunissen as a lead out since he isn't exactly among the best sprinters of the game. It will tell me how bad do I need to look for a lead out for Groenewegen in the transfer window since I don't want to use Van Poppel for that except for some races as I'd like to give Danny his own chances too.
Plenty of Giro heroes came here in Switzerland. Among them: Roglic, Thomas, Nibali, Konrad, S. Yates, Bernal, Quinatana, Kreuziger, Porte, Soler or Kelderman. And they had a their share of success as well.
Canola took a stage win as well as Konrad. The Austrian also held the leader's jersey for a few days. The first fifth stages were rather easy with Campenaerts, Colbrelli and Matthews getting a stage win each.
The important moves of the races were made in the second half of the race, once the high mountains were reached. Bennett did an amazing work for Roglic in the first mountain stage and on the last climb only Bahrain's duo of Nibali and Dennis were able to keep up with him and Roglic. But that would change as soon as Roglic put in his move as neither of his opponents were able to take his wheel and the Slovenian ended up winning the stage with an advatange of almost two minutes.
Bennett set things up perfectly for Roglic in the 6th stage
Roglic wasn't as impressive in the next stages but was still able to enjoy another solo win in the last high mountain finish of the race. Dennis and Yates won the last two stages of the race but Roglic's position was never in any danger and having George Bennett with him definitely made his opponents think twice before trying anything.
Was a ZLM Tour not enough? Well, if that is the case here's another one. Shorter, with two flat stages and one team time - trial.
Things started perfectly for Jumbo with Gronewegen winning the opening stage. It didn't continue as well with the team riding a disappointing TTT and falling out of contention of the GC. Groenewegen finished second in the last stage, with Arndt taking the stage win and with it the overall classification as well.
Groenewegen is the rider with the most win this season - twelve
Roglic carried on his excellent form from the Giro and the Tour de Suisse into the Slovenian National Championships.
He had no rival in the time - trial, as expected, but he also managed to double up on his with a win in the road race as well. Roglic went into the breakaway and took advantage of the fact that Bahrain and UAE did not react to it soon enough even though they had the numbers to do so.
Vegard Stake Laengen took the win in the time - trial, being about half a minute faster than Boasson Hagen.
In the stage race we had a breakaway take the win. The strongest two of a six riders group battled out for the stage win. Evensen had a team - mate in the breakaway and this allowed him to save a lot of energy for the final and put in a very strong sprint, but in the end it was Jumbo's Amund Jansen who took the win.
No Campernaerts in the time - trial means the race was wide open and it was Jumbo's Laurens De Plus who made the most of it and took the national title.
The road race ended with a sprint, but Wout Van Aert was not able to break into the top 3, finishing four. Stuyven and Capiot looked very strong in the final kilometer but it was Jens Debuschere who took the win. It will be somewhat strange to see a Katusha Belgian shirt in the pack but that does not take away anything from Debuschere's win.
Joey Rosskopf took quite a surprising win in the time - trial race in front of Chad Haga, while the pre-race favorite Van Garderen even missed out on the top 5 of the day.
In the road race we had a small group sprinting for the stage win, with Jumbo's Powless taking a very impressive fourth place. Education First dominated the group but Van Garderen was their best place rider in 3rd, who washed out some of the time - trial, while Rally UHC got a double, with Colin Joyce set to wear the blue, red and white colors for the next year.
It was business as usual in the time - trial with Tony Martin puttin another time - trial championship to his name.
In the road race, we had some of the most exciting racing in the national championships this season with a group of 4 riders getting away from the pack on the last hill of the day (Schachmann, Walscheid, Politt and Kessler).
With Walscheid in the group it was clear who would be the favorite in case of a sprint but the others did not seem to have enough in their legs to make another late attack which saw the Sunweb rider crossing the line first and Schachmann taking two second places in the national champions this year.
Jos Van Emden and Steven Kruijswijk put in some good times, but there was no stopping Tom Dumoulin from winning the Dutch time - trial championships. Dumoulin is between Grand Tours but this race seemed to be on his radar as well.
In the road race, things went more smoothly for Jumbo, who controlled the race and the final sprint which allowed both Van Poppel and Groenewegen to be in contention for the victory. A tricky last corner decided the winner and it was Danny Van Poppel! Groenewegen is the man with more victories this season but it will be Van Poppel who will be wearing the national colors for the next year.
Quite a few GC riders from Il Giro will be going to the Tour as well. But some of them had taken quite a strange line of preparation as they have rode the Tour de Suisse in between as well such as Nibali, Yates, Pinot, Quintana or Porte.
Tom Dumoulin did not go the Tour de Suisse so we can expect him to go full gas in the Tour as well as he will be looking for a historical double. It won't be easy though as his main rival, Chris Froome seems to have concentrated his entire season for the Tour, laying very low in other races. We can't discount the French riders either since they will have plenty of supporters on the road. The French flag will be held high this year by Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot.
Peter Sagan is the clear favorite for green, but the sprinters list doesn't look exactly impressive with Caleb Ewan, who already has a Giro in his legs, looking to be Groenewegen's main rival in the sprints. This means that perhaps the lack of classic flat stages compared to other editions will be the major impediment in Groenewegen's hunt for as many stage wins as possible.
Kruijswijk's goal at the start will be a top 5, but could very well shift to a podium if things go really well. George Bennett will be his main lieutenant since he won't be able to count on Gesink's support full time since the Dutchman will be aiming for polka dot jersey.
Five riders in the breakaway today but there's no way the opening stage of the Tour de France could be won after a breakaway so only the polka dots jersey for them to fight for today. And it was Tom Scully who was first at the top of both climbs today to take the jersey
The two categorized climbs of the day also had cobbles of them which broke the pack apart into multiple groups. Most of the riders would make it back. A few did not though. Among them, Davide Formolo and it looks like his GC might be over after the very first day
Massive crash in the pack with 10 kilometers to go. A little under 30 riders manged to not get caught in the crash and it would be easier to name those that survived instead of those who got down. Caleb Ewan and Dylan Groenewegen were the main sprinters to survive, while Richie Porte and Steven Kruijswijk were the only GC favorites present in the front group.
With 5 kilometers to go, Jumbo led by Tony Martin were at the front of the main group, setting things up for Groenewegen for the sprint
Adam Blythe got a head start on the Jumbo train with 2 kilometers to go as he tried to launch Caleb Ewan
By the time we reached the last kilometer, Teunissen had brought Jumbo back to the front and Groenewegen seems to be in the driving seat once again
It won't be easy though as everyone wants this win since it also means the yellow jersey. With 500 meters to go, Ewan, Groenewegen and Degenkolb are at the front, but others are closely following
Ewan faded in the last meters of the stage, but Degenkolb put in a very good sprint as well as the others left in the group. It was not enough to deny Groenewegen the win though and the Jumbo rider is the first yellow jersey of this Tour
No time gaps today after the crash which is fantastic news for all the GC contenders caught behind. Well, not all of them as we had a few withdrawals from the race after the crash and one of them was Mikel Landa, while Formolo lost nearly 13 minutes after being distanced on the cobbles and he will probably be looking for stage wins now
Bahrain were the first team to start and led by the World Champion, Rohan Dennis they had quite a good time but surprisingly they let Nibali lost a few seconds in the last meters. Is he not going for the GC here?
Sunweb were next. And again some rather weird tactics, with Dumoulin dropping a a second to his team - mates. They were 14 seconds faster than Bahrain
Ag2r with a very good ride today, 1 seconds slower than Sunweb. Unlike the previous leaders, Bardet got the same time as his team - mates, which puts him with the same time as Dumoulin.
UAE with another good time, same as Ag2r. Martin, Pogacar and Aru all finished in the first group of riders, being now also equal to Bardet and Dumoulin
Movistar are down to 6 riders after two withdrawals following the crash from the first stage. And this hit them hard as they would end up last today, more than 2 minutes behind the eventual winner. It looks it would be another Tour to forget for Quintana
Very good time for Deceuninck, 15 seconds faster than Sunweb. This could be enough for the stage win, which would put Alaphilippe in yellow!
It did not last for long though as we have a huge surprise by CCC! They are five seconds faster than Deceuninck, led by the USA and Kiwi time - trial champions. They do not have a lot to aim for in this Tour so it looks like they put everything they had in this ride
Ineos don't have a fantastic team here, but today they managed to keep Froome around the same time as the other GC favorites that finished so far. 22 seconds behind CCC and 2 seconds behind Sunweb
Groupama-FDJ were one second faster than Ineos. But Pinot lost 7 seconds to his team - mates which means he will be behind his GC rivals. It looks like most of the Giro guys won't be going for the GC here if they don't mind dropping time to their team - mates
Jumbo were the last team to start today and they were happy to show the yellow jersey among them. Tony Martin put in a great ride and helped his team - mates finish third today. 16 seconds down though which means Groenewegen will lose the yellow jersey to Riccardo Zoidl!
Education First sent 3 riders in the breakaway today to work for Scully's polka dot jersey but the Kiwi failed to gain any more points on the 3 climbs the breakaway actually got over in front of the pack. He will keep the jersey though as we had a different winner on each categorized climb
On the last climb of the day it was Alaphilippe who got first as he was attacking from the pack, followed by Jesus Herrada and Lilian Calmejane
They did not manage to get a gap but the pack is really thin toward the end now and some of the GC favorites are in trouble as well! Kruijswijk is safely at the front and he has Amund Jansen with him
The final kilometer is uphill so we are going to see an uphill sprint today. Alaphilippe is first in the last corner but Herrada, Calmejane, Matthews and Formolo all look very strong and eager to take the win
The earlier efforts seem to be costing Alaphilippe now as he fades away in the last meters, with Herrada and Calmejane looking to be the favorites for the stage win now
And it's Calmejane who takes it! Two of the French Continental teams had a chance to make their Tour today and it's Total who get on top. Alaphilippe's efforts will be rewarded as well as with no CCC riders in the front group he will move into the yellow jersey
Some interesting time gaps today. Only 18 riders were in the front group at the finish. Other than the favorites from the first page of results, only Froome and Bardet were able to hang on as well. This means that Pogacar (41 seconds), Dumoulin(53 seconds), Nibali (53 seconds), Porte (1'17) and Quintana (1'38) all lost time.
A stage made for a mass sprint. The small climb before the end put Groenewegen's participation into question though. But the Dutch rider survived the climb with any major problems and Jumbo were leading the pack as we reached the flat part at the end of the stage
They did not control the sprint as well as they did in the first stage with Jansen now leading out Groenewegen instead of Teunissen. Ewan launched with 1 kilometer to go and he seemed to be in a very good position, with Degenkolb right in his wheel
Groenewegen seems to have wasted too much into his team - mate's wheel and with 200 meters to go it was clear he won't be contesting today's stage win. The favorites? Caleb Ewan and John Degenkolb
And it's Degenkolb who takes it in front of Ewan and the yellow jersey in third place. Groenewegen misses out on the podium and he will have to concede the green jersey to today's winner
This looks like a good stage for a breakaway and we can see it by the look of the breakaway. 4 CCC riders, 3 EF riders, 2 from Movistar and Dimension data plus one from Astana and Arkea
Tom Scully was in the breakaway but he is far from a climber and he was not able to gain any more points today. It will be Movistar's Antonio Pedrero who will move into the polka dots at the end of day
And the Spaniard has a great chance to take the stage win as well as he and the former yellow jersey, Riccardo Zoidl have an advantage of about 2 minutes in front of the pack at the top of the last climb. Other riders have been caught or are about to be
Groenewegen has surprisingly managed to survive the last climb and is now looking to gain some points on John Degenkolb in the green jersey classification. Four riders (Pedrero, Zoidl followed by Rosskopf and Ben King) are still ahead of the pack as Gesink and Kruijswijk move Groenewegen to the front of the pack once we reach the final flat part of the stage
Zoidl looked really strong in the sprint and was very close to bring CCC another stage win, but in the end it was Pedrero who got it. A very important win for Movistar who have lost 2 of their riders after the first stage and were in a big crisis
King was caught by the pack in the final kilometers, but Rosskopf managed to stay away which means Groenewegen will get fourth today. He gained back some points on Degenkolb and is now only 6 behind the German rider
