Day one after what possibly has been the toughest stage in Grand Tour history. With Andorra left behind the peloton had to cover 173 kilometres to Lleida. Only one categorised climb and a lumpy profile made for a perfect breakaway scenario. But also the sprinters had an eye on this stage. In the end both perspectives came into play. In a breathtaking finale Jaco Venter lacked only 500 meters to take home the win.
The race started to unfold after only a couple of kilometres when five riders got away. Jaco was one of them. The group worked well together to establish a maximum lead of more then 5 minutes. Maxime Bouet (Etixx-QuickStep) was fastest over the climb and remained the man to watch at the front.
With 75 kilometres remaining Giant-Alpecin and Trek increased the pace in the peloton and started to whittle down the gap to the leaders. They tried to keep the five in sight. Nevertheless, it started to look good for the break the closer the race got to the finish. The gap was at 2 minutes just 20 kilometres to go and the breakaway riders showed no signs of attacking each other.
The tension at the front grew only in the final 3 kilometres. Bouet shut down the first attack, when Jaco made his move under the Flamme Rouge. It seemed that he could pull it off, but the peloton closed in fast. The Stellenbosch native was reeled in with 500 meters to go.
Danny van Poppel (Trek) was the fastest at the end, beating Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) and Tosh van der Sande (Lotto-Soudal) into second and third. Kristian Sbaragli was the team’s best placed finisher in 8th position.
Fabio Aru (Astana) kept his lead in the GC, with Louis Meintjes staying safe in 10th position.
Jaco Venter – Rider
Jean-Pierre Heynderickx – Sports Director
i'm really happy for jaco and glad there is news on him. BUt what about Darryl who came second