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Definitely improved the race, but they basically neutralised their own attack. I think they more likely played it a bit more defensively, as they probably didn't fancy their chances had they allowed Alaphilippe or VdP to attack earlier and preferred to keep it together as much as possible, which did work and as you said made the race all the more interesting. As often that resulted in the big favourites looking at each other a bit too much and someone else choosing the perfect moment, though Stuyven did a whol lot more than just picking the moment! 😳
Chapeau to Ewan, love it when a sprinter gets to go all out racing 👌
alex_s-
Ineos didn’t really have the riders for today. Kwiatkowski and Pidcock were up there but neither was strong enough to win. Ganna might have had a shot if he’d done what Stuyven did but he had a different brief.
Stuyven’s move would have failed had he gone a couple of seconds either way. He timed it perfectly.
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I assumed Pidcock or Kwiatkowski were going to launch.
The fact that nobody was really able to go made it a much better race so thanks to them.