CERVINIA – This time the boys of Tour of the Aosta Valley They ran like the pros: a race within a race. For the stage and for the general classification. And the winners of these "two races" were two well-known names from this 59th edition of the "Petit Tour": Joshua Golliker e Darren Rafferty.
The little Englishman of the Groupama-Fdj he remembered a little the enterprise of Gianmarco Garofoli two years ago. He was in a seven-man breakaway and then, with over 40 kilometers to go, he let loose and left everyone behind, going on to take the prestigious finish line in the shadow of the “Noble Rock”, the Matterhorn.
Rafferty, a deserved triumph
This morning the clan of the Valtournenche set off from Valtournenche Hagen's Berman Axeon he seemed calm. The sports director Koos Morenhaut had told us that they would think above all about checking. That they had spent a lot yesterday, but also that his boys were united, motivated and pumped up by this shirt.
And so they did. They handled themselves, once again, like pros. They set a smart pace, without overdoing it. They stayed together and got as close to the finish line as possible. On the easy climbs, they put the rouleurs in front, and on the tougher ones, the climbers. Everything was detailed.
In the final Rafferty was attacked above all by Del Toro and Faure Prost. He held them, but when he was about to overrev… "I didn't panic," Rafferty himself said on the event's official stream. "I knew I had a good lead and that it wasn't that far off. So I tried to find a good pace that would allow me to finish safely. Clearly, yesterday's efforts paid off.
«But I have to and want to thank the team. We were down to five, and that was no small feat. Whatever I needed, the guys were there. It was a pleasure to see them work for me, and I'm proud of it."
Rafferty will almost certainly move up to the WorldTour. He hasn't revealed anything and has actually glossed over the question, but it's likely we'll see him with EF Education – Easy Post.
Golliker, who are you?
And then there's this kid, Golliker. He's a first-year rider. He's won two out of five stages. He pushes incredible gears on the climbs. Even on the Pré de Pascal wall he had the 40 at the front. He appears to be what you'd call a pure climber. But apparently he doesn't think so.
«No – the Englishman told us – I'm not a pure climber, I just try to push and I can do it even uphill."
Consider that Golliker has only been cycling for three years. Today, after arriving, he even got emotional and asked us to wait a bit before asking him any questions. Perhaps he realized what a feat he had accomplished.
"I admit," Golliker says, "I'm still in shock from today. It was amazing. I've been cycling for three years. I used to do all the sports, but I chose cycling because I was more passionate about it.".
Golliker lives near Besançon, where Groupama-FDJ is headquartered. This choice was also due to the fact that in England, near London, where he lives, there are no hills and there's heavy traffic.
Analysis of a climber
Watching him pedal piqued our curiosity. Someone who wins two (tough) stages in the Valle d'Aosta, especially in his first year, can't help but be a climber, so we turned to his sports director, Jerome Gannat.
Jerome, is Golliker a pure climber?
No, but it's a steamroller! Jokes aside, too if you look at his physical structure he is not a real grimpeur. Joshua doesn't have that sharp change of pace. He likes to pick up his pace and push hard.
Yet he pushes long gears uphill. That's usually what climbers do...
True, but he does it like this because he is powerful. Muscle-wise too. He's so young, 19, that he's not quite defined. He's not finished growing, but I don't think he'll be a pure climber even in a few years.
Golliker was racing in France, were you already following him before he came to you?
No, We've been working with him for six months, but he's already improved a lot. Joshua is a natural striker. He's a bit on-and-off. If he's in front, he pushes, gets away, and gives 100 percent, but if he's in a group, he gets a bit lost. I almost think he gets bored. It's a question of motivation.
And is that why it came off yesterday during the stage?
I don't think so. He was still wearing the jersey. I wasn't surprised he lost it. We didn't even really defend it; we knew Joshua's limits. On the climbs, the group wasn't very strong. Then There were a flurry of shots and, as I said, Golliker couldn't respond well to them. Plus he's young and the distance was very long.
You said he's not a pure climber. So what kind of rider is he?
A very strong rider. I think we could see him as a protagonist in the really difficult or intermediate stages because he is very physically strong. But in general these are very difficult things to evaluate because we're talking about guys under 23. We'll really evaluate him when he leaves the continental team and how much he progresses among the pros.
And how did it go today?
I told him to attack because I changed my mind to last year's scenario when we were in the same situation as Hagens Berman Axeon. I told them they'd let the breakaway go, like we did last year. Even though I actually thought they'd give us more space, which was why I was worried. But it went well.
