A weakened Michael Albasini came under attack during the early part of today’s stage of the Tour of Britain when Vacansoleil rider Johnny Hoogerland jumped clear very soon after today’s start in Tavistock, joining up with a number of other strong riders such as second-placed Richie Porte (Saxo Bank) and Dan Martin (Garmin Transitions).
While that move came back and Martin nipped away in another break which lacked overall contenders – and therefore had a better chance of staying clear – Albasini and his HTC Colombia team had more headaches later on when Porte away again with Patrick Sinkewitz (ISD Neri) and stayed clear for several kilometres. That caused chaos behind but was eventually brought back.
However even if Albasini does control things until today’s finish, he may be increasingly nervous about the days ahead. His strongest team-mate Tony Martin pulled out today with stomach problems, while another TT specialist Marco Pinotti dropped out yesterday, due to a cold he had before the race started.
That takes away a chunk of the team’s horsepower, and so too the news that other riders on the squad also have some symptoms of gastro-intestinal distress.
Albasini himself went to see the race doctor earlier today.
Hoogerland vowed yesterday to keep fighting. He was involved in a serious break with Dan Martin (Garmin Transitions) and Matt Hayman (Team Sky), but was hauled back before the finish.
“It’s part of my character, attacking,” he said in the post-race press conference after the stage. “With the team we wanted to make the race hard. We knew HTC – Columbia have a very strong team, but also (Mark) Renshaw and (Andre) Greipel aren’t the riders who can close the gaps in the hills. So from the start we decided to make it hard.”
That same tactic will continue to apply. With HTC Columbia down to Albasini, Renshaw, Greipel and Bert Grabsch, the team will hope that four is enough to keep Porte, Hoogerland and the other contenders on a leash.
That applies to the remainder of today’s stage, and also for the three days ahead. What does work in their favour is that the terrain is a flatter from this point on.