"I struggle with pink jersey rider riding at the front like that": Commentator calls Lidl-Trek's tactics a mistake

Giulio Ciccone's pink jersey dream ended before the 31-year-old Italian even got to fully savor the moment. There was always a risk that the fifth stage, seemingly tailor-made for a breakaway, could see a change in race lead... However the way Lidl-Trek went about the defense of the maglia rosa was rather strange.

After working hard for most of the day to keep within the range of breakaway, the final step - to close the two-minute gap - nobody was willing to make.

"May I say that it is a mistake by Lidl-Trek?" wonders Eurosport commentator Karsten Kroon. "Why didn't Ciccone go full throttle on the climb? He could have closed the gap. That was the moment he could have saved the pink jersey. Not now, it is too late."

"What was there for Ciccone to lose? He didn't ride full throttle up the climb. Then choose do or die, because he isn't riding for the general classification," is Kroon's opinion. "Maybe he wasn't feeling well, but now he let it depend on the pace of Aleksandr Vlasov. It's easy for us to say this in hindsight, and maybe something went wrong and he thought Pellizzari would attack. But I can't imagine Ciccone is going to be very happy about this."

At that point, Lidl-Trek had two cards in the peloton; Ciccone and their designated GC leader Derek Gee. However the Canadian champion did not show up in best shape the previous days, thus the decision to not spend any energy on chasing the escaped group was met with surprise, and maybe even confusion.

And just like that, Ciccone was tasked with pulling up to the head of peloton and lay down a gentle pace to not let the escapees gain too much advantage.

"I just struggle with this, the pink jersey rider riding at the front like that… He’s not just anyone. That really hurts," Kroon concluded.