Jayco-AlUla could have misplaced considered one of its strongest riders within the self-discipline when Luke Durbridge crashed on stage 2 however even one man down the Australian squad walked away from Tuesday’s crew time trial at Paris-Nice with a second place that units crew chief, Ben O’Connor, up effectively for the times forward.
The Australian crew was second to set off within the stage 3 crew time trial, shedding Michael Hepburn, Max Walscheid, crew pursuit Olympic gold medallist Kelland O’Brien and Swiss highway race champion Mauro Schmid alongside the 28.4km course to go away Michael Matthews and Ben O’Connor to steer the cost on the finish of the stage 3 race towards the clock.
“Obviously with these TTT’s its tough when you may end with only one man or the entire crew however we tried to prioritise the strongest guys on this type of end after which the GC man would attempt to come to the road first,” stated Michael Matthews, who was a part of the gold medal successful Australian blended crew time trial on the World Championships final 12 months.
“I used to be simply informed to go full fuel for the final kilometre to attempt to get as a lot time as we might, with Ben on my wheel, and I believe we gained as a lot time as doable doing that.”
Jayco-AlUla stopped the clock at 30:41:29, delivering a median of 55.5kph on the lumpy course. It was no shock that this took them straight to the highest of the early outcomes board, given they had been simply second to start out, however then it turned more and more clear simply how robust their time was as others began rolling via the intermediate checks and towards the end line.
The subsequent crew to start out, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale – O’Connor’s former crew – completed 24 seconds slower after which Ineos Grenadiers, Movistar, Groupama-FDJ, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Lidl-Trek and EF Education-EasyPost all got here via with out difficult Jayco-AlUla’s mark.
It wasn’t till a full-strength and well-practiced Visma-Lease a Bike crossed the road, with final 12 months’s total Paris-Nice winner Matteo Jorgenson main Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard, that Jayco-AlUla needed to vacate the highest spot. The Dutch crew clinched the lead with a 14-second benefit.
“I don’t suppose we might have gone quicker,” stated O’Connor in a crew assertion. “It sucked to lose Luke yesterday, he’s an enormous engine and there have been elements there the place I believe one additional man would have helped. I nonetheless suppose it was an incredible experience.”
It could have been powerful to put aside what might have been had four-time Australian time trial winner Durbridge been among the many ranks, relatively than out with a damaged collarbone, however it was nonetheless a stage 3 experience from Jayco-AlUla that shifted O’Connor as much as fourth total.
After the crew time trial, O’Connor sits on the identical time as third-placed teammate Matthews – who’s sure to float again within the pivotal mountain days of the eight-stage Paris-Nice. The pair are 21 seconds behind race chief and 2024 winner Jorgenson whereas his Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Vingegaard sits in second, 15 seconds forward of the Australian Jayco-AlUla duo.
Numerous different key GC rivals, nonetheless, now have some floor to make up. Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) is the closest at 31 seconds again from the race lead and 10 seconds behind O’Connor, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) is 36 seconds behind the race lead whereas João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) is 48 seconds in arrears of yellow together with O’Connor’s former teammate Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale). Santiago Buitrago and Bahrain Victorious teammate Lenny Martinez have a considerable 1:08 deficit on the general to attempt to reel in after ending twelfth within the crew time trial.
