"Nothing but nothing in the peloton" - José de Cauwer disappointed with outcome of first Giro d'Italia summit finish

Stage 7 was notoriously conservative. The breakaway set off quickly in the day and despite the very long final ascent and high altitude, no riders tried making moves. A combination of a strong headwind and reluctance to make the first move saw the GC riders all arrive together with a small sprint.

"The last 2-3 hours I constantly wondered: what is happening here? The closer they got to the finish line, the more I thought: this can't be true? Nothing but nothing in the peloton," José de Cauwer said in his post-stage analysis for Sporza this Friday. "Okay, there was that wind, which made it difficult to get away. Only 1 rider tried it: Champion. And he was gone immediately. I was really disappointed."

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Karl Vannieuwkerke questioned if the wind was the only factor or if there was also tension over the toughness of the final stagesl, to which de Cauwer agreed. "And fear for what is to come, especially that 3rd week. But are all those riders so sure that they will take time back? I would have at least expected that some riders from the second line would try to get closer But apparently the leaders stopped everything."

At Colle Molella the early-Giro attitude was once again seen by the GC riders who just want to see how their form is. Yesterday the weather conditions limited the behaviour, however the analyst believes the mental factor between the GC riders and the presence of Remco Evenepoel has also led to a more conservative approach to Gran Sasso d'Italia.

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"They are afraid of Remco's strength, it seems now. They may be able to do it as a team, but then someone has to sacrifice themselves. Who would do that at Ineos? Hart or Thomas? Apparently they are both still waiting . At UAE the same song. Weird," he states, hinting that the teams want to keep their options open and not yet sacrifice anyone.

Sure enough on stage 9 the gaps to Evenepoel are set to increase against the clock, and stage 8 may see again a conservative peloton as the riders look to save their legs for the time-trial. This is a realistic possibility, with de Cauwer left hoping for more and the presence of someone who would flip the switch: "We miss the racing mentality of in the spring here. Someone like a Pogacar would have brought fire to it. He dares."

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