Team duties prevent breakaway hopes, Thomas de Gendt admits

Thomas de Gendt has been for many years hinted as one of the most talented riders in the art of breakaways in the pro peloton, and as his career evolutes, the Belgian got used to different roles within Lotto Soudal where he has found a leader who greatly benefits from his work.

The legs are not fresh anymore if you have pulled for three or four days in the first week, so that's also what I told the sports director: either I work or I aim for breakaways," de Gendt told Cyclingnews at the start of stage seven. With the team carrying responsibilities over the flat stages as Caleb Ewan pursuits wins, Thomas de Gendt has been riding long kilometers in the head of the peloton.

"The job I do now, nobody in the team can do it better than me. I can pull 150-160 kilometres and if they ask somebody else in the team, maybe they can do it one day, but the next day they are cooked," De Gendt added. Over the years, he's a rider known for his recovery skills, having won half of his Grand Tour stages at stage 19 or afterwards - and having finished on the podium of the 2012 Giro d'Italia due to a memorable performance on the Passo dello Stelvio. 

As the years passed, he's become a breakaway expert, and slowly into a domestique for Caleb Ewan, a crucial part of the team as he's become a reliable figure in the front of the peloton, over several races in the calendar. He will have freedom - as was the case yesterday when he tried to get in the day's break, however whilst the Australian is in the race, he is the priority. "So I think it's a good job for me but maybe I have to wait for the second rest day. As a rider, we tend to live things day by day.

He's mentioned today as a possible opportunity for him, however team duties will be the main priority: "There are some stages that could be very good for me: like Naples which will be hard to control because it's never a long climb, never steep, but not easy to chase. That would have been a day I would have aimed for, but now obviously we have Caleb here. So for now I have to bring back the breaks," he concluded.