Philip Deignan has slipped a little in the past few days but is stiill in mint condition and back on form
The wheels may have come off Philip Deignan’s wagon, or at least loosened a little, in the past few stages of the Tour of California, but the Donegal man now sits 9th overall going into today’s last leg.
It is a placing he should hold on a final day suited to the sprinters and confirms his return to the big time after a couple of indifferent seasons.
On yesterday’s penultimate stage, which finished atop the feared Mount Diablo climb, many felt Deignan had the legs to take back some of the time he had lost in the previous day’s time trial and on Thursday when he was caught out by 16 riders breaking away in the crosswinds.
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However, rather than trying to distance the others on the finishing climb yesterday, the pace was so intense up the final slopes that Deignan was forced into a battle for survival.
As the BMC team of yellow jersey Tejay van Garderen set a savage pace on the front to try and close down two escapees just out front, Deignan was still there when the fight came down to between 10 and 15 riders in the select group.
However, with just over 1km to go and no easing up in the group, Deignan began to slip off the back. From that point he fought very well, limiting his losses to 53 seconds on breakaway man and winner Leopold Konig (NetApp-Endura).
Van Garderen finished 40 seconds head of the Irish man and as the select group split in the final 1km, the rest of the big favourites were scattered on the road between the young yellow-jerseyed American and the Irishman.
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That ride saw Deignan slip one place to 9th on general classification. He had been 3rd overall for much of the race, filling that spot on stage 2 when the race first hit the mountains. He held that place on the flat stages 3 and 4 and while stage 5 was expected to be one for the sprinters, the cross winds split the bunch and Deignan was caught out.
He came home in the main peloton, some 58 seconds behind a group of 16 that contained Van Garderen and a number of the GC favourites.
Deignan fell from 3rd to 5th – 1:17 behind Van Garderen. The following day, Friday, was a 36.6km TT in San Jose.
While the discipline has never been Deignan’s favourite, he tested very well at the Tour of the Gila a couple of weeks back in New Mexico and went on to win the event outright. On Friday in San Joes, against a better field, the Unitedhealthcare rider was 24th; some 3:35 behind yellow jersey and stage winner Van Garderen,
However, while the gap between himself and the top of the leader board increased during the TT, Deignan climbed one place overall to 8th heading into yesterday’s decisive mountain stage.
He looks all set now to finish 9th overall when the riders wrap up the tour today with a 130km leg from San Francisco to Santa Rosa.
While that is a good ride, Deignan lost time on Thursday he simply should not have. As the front group of 16 was riding away, the Donegal man’s team were very slow to get organised in the chase after them.
Deignan was forced to hit the front himself and go into the red in an effort to hold the gap to the leaders, hardly ideal preparation for the following day’s TT and the Diablo stage the next day.
When Deignan’s team did finally get organised in the chase, they did not look like the most well drilled or powerful group of riders ever to grace the front of a professional peloton. However, with the first section of Deignan’s season now complete, it is absolutely clear he’s in mint condition mentally and physically and with one win already to his name, he should be on the top of the podium again this season.
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