Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek) again underlined that he is fully ready for the Giro d’Italia as he took a second stage win on the hilly third stage of the Tour of Croatia. After a very hectic finale where a 6-rider break was caught under the flamme rouge, he was given a textbook lead-out by Edward Theuns  and easily held off Timothy Dupont (Verandas Willems) and Matteo Pelucchi (IAM) in the bunch sprint to take the win and move back into the overall lead.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Giacomo Nizzolo: I was scared because I couldn’t use by biggest gear

Giacomo Nizzolo sprinted to the win in stage three at the Tour of Croatia capitalizing on a flawless team effort to catch the breakaway with one kilometer to go and then set up Nizzolo with a textbook leadout in another twisty finish.

 

"It was really fast to get the breakaway back, and the guys did a perfect job in the leadout, so I had to win," said Nizzolo. "All day we rode well, the circuit was hilly and before was tough too, harder than last two days. I am feeling good, and I was confident for the sprint, but at the end, I was scared because I could not shift into my biggest gear. My cadence was really high, but it worked out with the perfect lead out."

 

A six-man breakaway animated the 190.8-kilometer stage and Dimension Data, with the onus of the leader's jersey, policed the move; Trek-Segafredo helped control the escape group using the hardworking Julien Bernard in the early grunt work.

 

In the closing kilometers, the breakaway still had a hefty lead; it was looking to be close if they would be pulled back in time. Trek-Segafredo put all hands on deck using climbers Riccardo Zoidl and Julian Arredondo to set pace on the final climbs until Eugenio Alafaci and Gregory Rast finished off the pursuit in the downhill and flat run-in. 

 

The six leaders were swarmed under the flamme rouge where Boy Van Poppel and Edward Theuns performed the final touches, setting up Nizzolo perfectly and giving the team its second victory of the tour. 

 

"After the feedzone, about half way into the race, Tinkoff put one rider to help Dimension Data, and I put Julien Bernard to help in the chase; he worked hard yesterday and again today," explained director Dirk Demol. "Then with 25kms to go, from one moment to another, the gap went suddenly from 1 minute and 40 to 2 minutes and 10 seconds. So then I said it's going to be tight, and I had Riccardo and Arredondo pull.

 

"The whole team was involved in bringing it back. Boy was there until he became a bit stuck at the end and Edward did more than well to take over for him with a perfect lead out.

 

"Yesterday, in my opinion, in the last 100 meters he was the strongest, so we believed 100 percent Giaco could win again if it came to a sprint. It's always great to have a win, but even better that the team is there and all a part of it."

 

The Tour of Croatia continues Friday with the queen stage where the general classification battle will finally begin. Nizzolo recaptured the leader's jersey after his win today, but he has no misgivings about keeping the jersey in the summit finish tomorrow.

 

"No, no way," Nizzolo laughed when asked about protecting the jersey in tomorrow's mountain stage. "Sunday, maybe I can have another chance. We will have to see the finish first. But we came here to prepare the Giro and now I have two victories in the pocket. I was motivated already, but this gives me morale."

 

Matteo Pelucchi and IAM lead-out improve in Croatia

“At this race, we were sprinting more for position than to develop your top speed,” Matteo Pelucchi said after taking his third place.  “This kind of finish is absolutely not something that suits my strengths.  The end was very technical, and it was almost impossible to produce a real effort.  Third place is not the result I expected. But it comes after a day of real team work throughout the stage.  My teammates supported me to the absolute best of their abilities, especially since this was a very difficult day.  We came to the Tour of Croatia with a view to preparing for the Giro.  Although we are still missing a victory from our time here, we are nailing down the lead out so that it will be second nature, and the whole team is communicating well.”

 

“These sprints are very particular,” directeur sportif Eddy Seigneur explained.  “There is never a straight.  In this third stage, the last corner was just 100 meters from the line.  Under these conditions, everything is a question of positioning.  And in this area, the team really responded today.  The riders followed the instructions to the letter.  We saw a team from IAM Cycling that welded absolutely around its leader Matteo Pelucchi.  We have found our place.  The group is going well and it bodes well for the Tour of Italy that starts on May 6th.  This podium for Matteo will enhance everyone’s confidence.”

 

Victim of a crash with 3 kilometers to the finish, Jonathan Fumeaux suffered a fright more than an injury. 

 

“Ultimately, I sustained a few scratches to the hip and shoulder.  The peloton was very nervous.  We were riding at around 75km/h when we crashed.  I was a bit groggy from the shock, but I was able to continue without too much difficulty.”

 

It was the 17th podium grabbed by IAM Cycling since the start of the season.  It is Matteo Pelucchi’s third.

 

Poor position takes Mark Cavendish out of contention in Croatia

With Mark Cavendish in the race leader’s jersey, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka squad took responsibility for setting the pace in the peloton. A maximum gap of 5 minutes was reached by the 6 leaders but Jay Thomson did an incredible job to reel them back in. The South African powerhouse tapped out a consistently high tempo which saw the gap disintegrate to just 1 minute with 10km to go.

 

The African Team led the peloton onto the finishing circuit but when the race hit a small climb with 6km to go Trek-Segafredo came to the head of the race. At one point it looked like the break may just hold on to decide the stage but it wasn't to be their day. The catch was made with 1.5km to go, and as the early leaders came back into the bunch it caused some disorder at the head of the race for Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka.

 

Mark Renshaw and Cavendish had to come from a long way back in the final kilometer and with a left-right-left corner combination coming between 500m and 100m to go, there was no real chance to get back into a race winning position. Cavendish came across the line in 4th position and subsequently, relinquished his race leader's jersey to Nizzolo.

 

Sports director Alex Sans Vega said:
 

“It was another tough day in the office for the boys. They were working really well from the start of the stage. We didn't want to have any riders from World Tour teams in the break today and no more than 7/8 riders. So eventually it was 6 riders that went away, we gave them no more than 6 minutes. From the feedzone, Trek and Tinkoff gave us 1 rider each and together we worked well. Jay was very good and riding really strongly once again. Also, Nathan Haas and Nic Dougall were doing some good work so I am happy with all the guys. Over the last 3 days they have given good support to Cavendish.

 

”Coming to the final there was a bit of chaos in the final 1.5km when the break was caught. For that reason, there was a bit of disorganisation and Mark wasn't able to keep a good position. He was a bit too far back for the sprint, he still sprinted well but the positioning was the reason for not getting a better result. The team showed they were strong, committed and they are working really well together so I am sure we still have some more good results to come in the next days of this race.”

 

Marcin Biabloblocki close to victory for ONE in Croatia

The early stages of the race saw a similar storyline as in previous days with the peloton refusing to let an early break go. The first break was attempted after only 3km with 8 riders including Marcin Bialoblocki surging off the front. But the peloton weren’t happy with the size of the lead group and decided to close it down before it gathered any ground. Marcin Bialoblocki remained on his toes waiting for another opportunity, which didn’t present itself. Instead, Head DS Matt Winston made a call for Bialoblocki to attack on a small climb, forcing a small breakaway to escape off the front of the peloton and gain a maximum advantage of 5 minutes.

 

It was an impressive performance from ‘The Machine’ as he drove the front of the group in an attempt to stay away.  Arriving into the town of Sibenik the leaders had an uphill drag to tackle before crossing the finish line for the first time. Cresting the small ascent they would complete one short local lap before descending back into the town.  With only 3km to go and the break still had 30 seconds on the bunch, but with the peloton breathing down their necks the speed continued to increase and they were swallowed up with less than 1km remaining.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the ONE Pro squad were working hard to position Chris Opie for another bunch sprint, in an attempt to make up for the crash on the previous stage which stole his chances at another competitive finish. In the flat stick pace Opie found himself separated from his team mates as he jockeyed for position in the final kilometre.

 

Caught out of position in the chaos of the technical approach, the front of the bunch closed in and shut him out as they sprinted across the line in 18th position.

 

Novo Nordisk sprinter out of position in tricky sprint in Croatia

Andrea Peron finished best for Team Novo Nordisk at 23rd.

 

“I just didn’t have good position on the last kilometer,” the Italian rider said. “I was hoping to do better, and I will try again tomorrow.”

 

Cramps take Tinkoff sprinter out of contention in Croatia

At the end of a hot, up and down day at the Tour of Croatia, the stage honours were once again decided in a bunch sprint but unlike the previous two days, there were no Tinkoff jerseys in the mix over the line as Michael Kolar faded in the final kilometres, suffering from the heat out on the road.

 

The finish was another hectic one with the day’s breakaway being caught inside the last kilometre, but with Kolar cramping before the final and fading out of contention the team was limited as to what it could do in the twisty run-in to the line. Nonetheless, it was another strong display of intent from the team having contributed to the chase over the day’s climbs and into the finale.

 

“It was a long, hot stage out there today and the guys worked hard again today to prepare for a sprint with Michael but at the end he suffered with the heat and was cramping before the finish,” explained Sport Director Ivan Basso after the finish.

 

The race rolled out from Makarska under blue skies once again with just over 190km on the profile for the day including some rolling climbs in the first part of the stage before the day’s main climb cresting before the mid-way point. A breakaway of six riders managed to break clear ahead of the climb and started to build a lead which grew to over five minutes.

 

As the stage rolled on and the second of the day’s categorised climbs was tackled, their advantage had fallen down to a couple of minutes, but with some strong time trialists represented at the front they were putting up a valiant fight and holding a decent gap.

 

With 10km to go the race passed the finish line for the first time, giving the riders a chance to see the finish before the real thing. With the break’s advantage lingering at around a minute still the signs of a tight catch were clear to see, and as the race headed back uphill more attacks came from behind to disrupt the chase.

 

However, with the race speeding down the large open roads back towards the finish the catch was on and with just under 1km to race the scene was set for a bunch sprint in Sibenik. With the leaders caught, two Tinkoff riders led the race into town with Jay McCarthy in second wheel but it was not to be as they were swamped through the final bends, while Giacomo Nizzolo of Trek-Segafredo, came through for his second stage win of the race. McCarthy was the first Tinkoff rider over the line in 24th position.

Basso continued: “Michael was suffering towards the end and was fighting to come back after the final climb but it was very fast and it didn’t work out. That’s racing.

 

“Although it didn’t come together at the end I was pleased to see the commitment again from the guys today – the spirit is there and the way that we are racing here will pay off in this race or the races to come. If you don’t try you won’t win. Now we’re focused on tomorrow’s stage.”

 

Tomorrow’s fourth stage is the queen stage of the race, featuring a monster finishing climb of over 25km to the line in Ucka. A whole different race will unfold tomorrow, but Tinkoff will be ready to fight on with Jesper Hansen and Sergio Paulinho showing strong climbing legs so far this race.

 

Laurens De Vreese misses early breakaway

"The team asked me to go in the breakaway if there was a big group of important riders. But there were not so many attacks. Six riders from non-ProTour teams escaped in the beginning, the sprint teams controlled the race all the time, so I stayed with my teammates in the peloton," said Laurens De Vreese after the 3rd stage of Tour of Croatia.

 

"In the final I worked for Guardini, but the finish was very stressful. The high speed, the dangerous corners, narrow roads and everybody wants to be at the front," added De Vreese