Garmin-Cevelo chief Jonathan Vaughters has explained his tactics against a defensive policy during the finale of the Tour of Flanders on Saturday, saying that there was little choice.
He told his riders over race radio not to work during the chase of Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek) and Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), appearing to believe that the race was over in terms of the win. However the duo were eventually overhauled by an impressive BMC Racing Team, after which a dozen riders pushed ahead and fought it out for the win.
“We only had two riders in that group, so who was going to work? Tyler or Thor? I mean there were the two guys we were trying to race for the win, so there was no option other than just to sit on and not,” he told VeloNation's Ben Atkins at the finish of the race. “Tyler was saying: ‘should I work?’, but Thor was saying: ‘well, I don’t feel good,’ so the answer’s ‘no’.
“It’s very simple, I meant if we have seven guys in the group and I said ‘don’t chase’, okay, I understand [the questions about tactics], but we had two riders: one not really feeling very good, and the other one’s a sprinter. Of course you’re not going to chase.”
Both riders missed the winning break. Farrar led in a big chase group one minute 34 seconds back, netting 13th, while Hushovd was 53rd, 4 minutes 29 seconds down. The team’s other protected rider, Heinrich Haussler, had an off-day and was over eight minutes back in 61st.
“We tried to set it up the right way, but it didn’t work,” Vaughters conceded. “For us, the day was crap, but it was a good race, a really good race.”
He said the team will try to pull out a better ride in next weekend’s Paris-Roubaix. Hushovd won the under 23 version of the race in 1998, took third in 2009 and was then second last season.
The team's signing of a number of strong riders from Cervelo, including Hushovd and Haussler, prompted predictions that it would dominate the Classics. Things haven't worked out thus far in either Milan-Sanremo or Flanders; it will now aim to turn things around and get back on track.