Ireland's Philip Deignan leads a six man breakaway group on his way to second place on yesterday's second stage of the nine-day Tour de Suisse.
By Gerard Cromwell
Philip Deignan proved he has recovered well from his strong showing at the Giro d’Italia when finishing second on stage two of the Tour de Suisse in Sarnen yesterday.
The Letterkenny pro went clear in a six man escape group alongside Lawrence Warbasse (BMC), Reto Holleinstein (IAM), Cameron Meyer (Orica GreenEDGE), Frederick Veuchelen (Wanty Groupe) and Europcar’s Bjorn Thurau just 15km into yesterday’s tough 183km mountain stage.
The best placed ride in the break, Deignan became virtual race leader on the road once the gap went over 42 seconds but with the group fragmenting on the final climb, the Team Sky rider had just Warbasse for company going over the top with 40km to go.
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“It was strange,” said Deignan of his first real day’s racing since the Giro.
“It was just one of those days where I didn’t really feel great on the bike but I was just able to keep going. I was on the limit with Warbasse on the last climb. He was pretty strong and I was just trying to hang onto him really.”
Although attacks from the peloton behind saw their advantage decrease over the last 35km, Deignan and Warbasse flew down the final descent and still had a minute and 10 seconds lead with 10km to go.
While Deignan only needed 42 seconds to take over the race lead, he conceded afterwards that he never really believed he would be in yellow at the end of the stage.
“I never really believed the jersey would have been possible to be honest.
“The gap wasn’t that big. I think we only had a minute and a half going over the top of the last climb and I wasn’t really sure what was happening behind.
“I knew that Cannondale were riding for Sagan and I knew (race leader) Tony Martin could put in a big pull at the front of the bunch if he wanted to bring us back. So the likelihood of us finishing with more than 40 seconds was pretty small.”
It was a filthy day in Switzerland as Deignan leds the escape in search of stage victory yesterday.
In the end, that’s exactly what happened. The powerful German world time trial champion hit the front with 4km to go and, with help from some of the sprint trains in the final kilometre, cut the breakaways advantage down to just 14 seconds on the line.
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Up ahead though Deignan had other problems with former escapee Meyer suddenly regaining contact with the him and Warbasse in the last 9km.
“We heard he was at 30 seconds but we were flying along so I was surprised when he made it back.
“Obviously, he comes from the track and he’s pretty fast so I knew I was up against it. Still... he was dropped earlier so you never know.
Former world points race champion, Meyer proved fastest in the three man sprint to the line however, edging Deignan into second with Warbasse third.
“It’s always difficult to finish second when you come so close to the win,” said a disappointed Deignan afterwards.
“It was such a long day out there. We had almost 4,000m of climbing today and most of it was in pretty crap weather.
“It was a wearing down process all day and it was just about keeping the legs going. A finish like that is not really about if you’re a pure sprinter.
“After being out there all day it’s about whether you have something left, a bit of power, but I had nothing left at the end.
“I don’t have a good sprint at the best of times but today I just didn’t have anything left.”
The Donegal man can take some consolation from the fact that he seems to have recovered well from the Giro.
Though he moved up to seventh place overall, 27 seconds behind race leader Martin, yesterday Deignan will support teammates Bradley Wiggins, Sergio Henao and Pete Kennaugh for the remainder of the race.
“My job here is to work for the team by going in breakaways and helping the guys," he said.
"I was asked to try and get in the early move today and I was lucky enough to get in one that stayed away. Getting a few seconds today hasn’t changed anything.
“I’m really tired now but I suppose I have to be happy with where I’m at and how I’ve recovered from the Giro.
"Hopefully today is a good sign for the rest of the week because we have some really hard stages ahead of us. ”
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