Giro 2024: After missed sprint opportunity, other teams mainly point to Alpecin-Deceuninck tactics

“It was not Alpecin’s best tactic to go so fast on the climb.” Was signed rose jersey wearer Tadej Pogačar in his flash interview after the fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia. And the classification leader was not the only one who questioned the tactics of Kaden Groves’ team in the stage to Lucca. According to several riders, the leading group stayed ahead and Benjamin Thomas won.

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Pogačar spoke with a scornful smile about Alpecin-Deceuninck’s course. “They couldn’t get back on the flight after that,” he added. Tim Merlier agreed, although he did not mention the name of his old employer. “I’ve seen some strange tactics, and then you see something like this happen. If you don’t work well together, then that long escape will of course continue.”

“Some teams had the tactic to release other sprinters. They crushed our entire team to death,” said the Soudal Quick-Step sprinter, who finished eighth in Lucca, on the team channels.

Lidl-Trek also missed out on the stage victory. That team was in the lead for a long time ahead of Jonathan Milan, who won the peloton sprint but – behind the four escapees – only finished fifth. His teammate Edward Theuns knows why. “A great leading group left at the start, but Alpecin-Deceuninck had a special plan to make it tough on the climbs. I don’t know if that was the best plan,” Theuns laughs Eurosport. “A strange tactic, but it is their right.”

“Everyone comes to the Giro in good shape,” he continues. “So it’s not easy to release riders on a running climb like this. As a result, there was no escape for a while, and then four strong riders broke away 70 kilometers from the finish. You have to react quickly on this course. We did that, we took matters into our own hands. At the end more teams arrived, but by then it was too late. It’s a shame because it’s a missed opportunity.”

Kaden Groves: “I’m guessing that escapees also got a little help from the engines”
Jimmy Janssens was one of the Alpecin-Deceuninck riders who set the pace high on the Passo del Bracco. “It was a tough day,” he said afterwards Eurosport. “We tried to make it difficult on the climb to release the heavy sprinters. But we had no luck there. […] Maybe we didn’t have enough riders in the final to close the gap.”

“We used a lot of energy in the beginning and that cost us some people in the final phase to get the break back. The escapees drove very fast, I guess also with a little help from the engines. These stages happen every now and then,” Kaden Groves sighed Eurosport. “The flight was very strong and they also had a tailwind, but we had our plan. That went well in the opening phase, but unfortunately we lost each other in the final. But the victory was already gone…”

In the peloton sprint for fifth place, Groves ultimately did not compete for the places of honor. He only crossed the finish line in fifteenth place.