"It's not exactly what we’d hoped for" - Ineos Grenadiers only barely pass their first real test at Tour de France

After two breathtaking stages of Giro d'Italia Tour de France, the flatter third stage from Piacenza to Torino offers us a bit of time to look back at everything that happened, especially on the last San Luca ascent. While Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard flied away to the sunset with Remco Evenepoel and Richard Carapaz following their footsteps.

Meanhwile Ineos Grenadiers were struck by the heat, or perhaps the opponent's speed? Geraint Thomas already had to bid farewell to the general classification, while other leaders Tom Pidcock, Egan Bernal and Carlos Rodríguez were nowhere in the sight on San Luca either. The trio eventually somewhat saved the day by crossing the line 21 seconds back with the like of Primoz Roglic and yellow jersey Romain Bardet.

"It's not exactly what we’d hoped," admitted Pidcock. "But it was damage limitation in the end. There’s going to be minutes in three weeks. Twenty-one seconds doesn't mean anything."

Meanwhile Jonas Vingegaard put in absolutely stellar ride, never giving Pogacar even a meter. "I was not overly surprised, to be honest," Geraint Thomas said when asked for his take on Vingegaard’s form. "We knew he would be good. I expected Tadej to get a gap, so if he didn’t then fair play, hats off to Jonas."

Ineos DS Zak Dempster shared Pidcock’s positivity in his assessment. "We couldn't respond. But I think, you know, 21 seconds at this stage isn’t too bad. We’re going to be talking about minutes in the third week... There were a bunch of other guys there that weren't able to hold the wheel either."