Mixed fortunes for Quick Step riders as chaos in the final corner ruins Belgian’s hopes
Tom Boonen (Quick Step) was lining himself up for a sprint at the end of today’s Tour de France stage between Olonne-sur-Mer and Redon. The former World champion was looking for his first stage victory in the Tour since 2007, but an incident in the final corner saw him drop back and he eventually finished in 162nd place.
"I'm bummed I couldn't do a good sprint today,” said Boonen afterwards. “I felt like I had a good sprint in my legs, I rode very well all day.
“We went into the left curve – located about 600 metres from the finish line – very fast,” he explained. “I was right on [Mark] Cavendish's wheel with [Alessandro] Petacchi on mine. We came out of it really close to the barricades but then some athletes came in at full speed and forced me to brake to avoid the worst.:
Boonen wasn’t the only Quick Step sprinter to suffer bad luck on the stag today, with Gerald Ciolek also narrowly avoiding a crash.
“It's too bad for Ciolek, too,” explained Boonen. “Gerald drove me really well but right before the last kilometre he also had to pull off a balancing act to stay on his bike. It's a lost opportunity and I also lost lots of points for the green jersey.
“You never know at the Tour, though,” he added optimistically. “We're going to keep trying. Often all it takes is a couple of good results to get back into the race for the points jersey."
Quick Step did have better fortune earlier in the stage though, as Niki Terpstra got himself into the five-man move that escaped the peloton in the opening kilometre. Between them the fugitives managed to build a maximum lead of 8’05, after 74km, but, with stage three one of the few opportunities for the sprinters this year, the move was always doomed to fail.
"I think I did well, in the break we gave it our all,” said Terpstra after the stage. “I wasn't at 100% today but when you get a chance to get in the break in the Tour, you've got to jump at it. We collaborated very well in the head of the race; I even tried to sprint at the top of the Pont de Saint-Nazaire for the points towards to the polka-dot jersey but it definitely wasn't a sprint suited to me.
“However,” he added, “the final outcome of the day for me was good."
One person impressed with Terpstra’s efforts was Quick Step sports director Davide Bramati, clearly impressed that the former Dutch champion has had a return of the good form that made him one of the most aggressive riders of the spring before a freak crash in the time trial of the Driedaagse De Panne saw him break his collarbone.
"Niki raced really well, the break was a good mix, with important riders,” he said. “They really hammered, more than 42kph on average.
“Unfortunately the headwind in some phases of the race didn't help their move,” he continued. “However, Niki is in top form and there will still be chances to shine."