Paris – Nice – Matthias Brändle: – Glad to be back at the level I was before –

THE ANIMATOR

Matthias Brändle. The former holder of the world hour record took a flyer almost as soon as the flag dropped to signal the start of the stage in Contres. Accompanied by Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre), Anthony Delaplace (Fortuneo) and Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko Marseille), the Austrian was a big motor in the breakaway that lasted around 200 kilometers before being reabsorbed with some twelve kilometers to go to the finish by the peloton powered with all the steam that Orica-GreenEDGE, Etixx-Quickstep, and Katusha could provide.

THE DIAGNOSIS

Acute sinusitis. It is on account of that diagnosis that Jérôme Coppel, who posted such a strong time in the prologue on Sunday in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, returned home before the start of the second stage, in the hopes of recovering quickly in order to be prepared for his upcoming races.

THE QUOTE

“I was happy to be back in front,” explained Matthias Brändle, after his long raid during the longest stage of the race. “We worked well together to get the sort of advantage we needed to be at the front. Unfortunately, we didn’t put enough time between us and the peloton to reach our goal of being able to go for the stage win. I have no regrets because I was able to put in a very good day’s work on the bike.”

THE EXPLANATION

Jonas Van Genechten gathered another top-10 finish for IAM Cycling after placing himself well in a heated sprint that was won by Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) after the officials declassified Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) on account of a maneuver just a few meters from the line that they classified as illegal. Overall, Van Genechten was satisfied with his performance. “We were able to show the jersey at the front all day, and then in the final Vicente Reynes and Oliver Naesen succeeded in placing me well. Unfortunately, we don’t really have the sort of train to compete with the big sprinters teams. After that final bend, I managed to gain a few places, but I also had to deal with a lot of riders who were tailing off after finishing their lead-out chores.”

THE NUMBER

7.7 – In terms of percentage, that is the gradient of the final three kilometers that the racers will face for the finish devised by the organizers to culminate at the top of Mont Brouilly on Wednesday.

Pictures: BettiniPhoto2016