John Archibald is close to victory in the Poitou-Charentes time trial: second by one second
35º Tour du Poitou-Charentes
Stage 3 a: Moncontour – Loudun (109,6 km)
Stage 3 b: Monts-sur-Guesnes – Loudun (23,5 km ITT)
John Archibald came very close to victory on Thursday in the time trial stage of the second sector of this intense day of cycling at the Tour Poitou-Charentes. The Scotsman, who started 14th, stopped the clock at a spectacular 27’56”.
#TPC2021. Luca Wackermann during his ITT.
[ ️ @France3NoA / @TourPoitouChtes]#EOLOKOMETACyclingTeam #Stage3B pic.twitter.com/6MuPO2ZWDu— EoloKometaCyclingTeam (@EoloKometaTeam) August 26, 2021
A very good time, the result of a very consistent performance, which increased the excitement as the riders arrived and did not get any closer to it. In the end Ben Hermans, who had cut 14 seconds off Archibald’s time at the intermediate point, improved the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team rider’s time by just one second.
“I gave everything I could. The first half of the course had some climbs and downhills, while the second half was faster and also a bit more technical. With the fatigue accumulated in my legs during the previous stages my pace was not perfect, but I tried my best. We’ll have to see how I finish in the general classification, but it seems that my performance will be better than in Tirreno-Adriatico, the last race in which I did a time trial with the team”, he explains. Archibald.
#TPC2021. ITT stage for our team:
2º John Archibald: 27’56”.
22º Erik Fetter: 29’12”.
32º Samuele Rivi: 29’30”.
51º Luca Wackermann: 30’16”.
65º Davide Bais: 30’41”.
70º Diego Pablo Sevilla: 31’03”.
107º Manuel Belletti: 32’20”.#EOLOKOMETACyclingTeam #Stage3B pic.twitter.com/6jLMXyDUmk— EoloKometaCyclingTeam (@EoloKometaTeam) August 26, 2021
The time trial followed a frenetic morning sector, again with crashes and cuts, in which the partial victory was decided by a sprint for Elia Viviani and Luca Wackermann finished 20th.
British rider Conor Swift is the new leader of a race that faces its final stage this Friday. A 166.5-kilometre route between Villefagnan and Poitiers with a broken profile in which there will surely be many offensives. Erik Fetter, 18th, is the EOLO-KOMETA rider best placed in the general standings, 1’52” behind the leader. Luca Wackermann (24th, 2’28” behind) and Samuele Rivi (25th, 2’29” behind) are next.
