«Last year – says Bennati – l'ho visto win in Paris really greatThis year he won the last stage at the Tirreno, and he's really growing strong. Then he finished second at the Roubaix. In my opinion, this is a bad dog even at the World Cup».
Bennati's analysis
Jasper Philipsen just won the fourth stage of five sprints contested and the national team coach, who from stage to stage Tour he knows about it, he followed it with great attention, seen the Glasgow appointment which can now be seen at the end of the straightOn the day Daniel Oss won the red number, Bennati's words are very interesting.
«With due proportions – Bennati smiles, putting his hands forward – I saw myself in a sprint I won at the Vuelta in 2012I look at it often, because it's one of those cases where, as they say among riders, I couldn't feel the chain. At one point, 300 meters from the finish, Philipsen stopped pedaling twice, but he remained there the whole time.Then, with a quick glance, he was able to understand all the situations. When a sprinter is in top condition, everything goes well for him. He finds himself with a great awareness of himself and that is what is happening to him too. It's clearly stronger…».
He also understood where the sprint opened up, he didn't risk getting stuck...
He took Van Aert's wheel and then in an instant he understood that that was not the right wheelThose are efforts that if you don't have the legs, you can no longer sprint. Instead he left Van Aert and made a first sprint to follow Groenewegen's trailAnd when he reached his wheel, Groenewegen took off. He was there. And when he saw the right moment, he accelerated and even gave him three bikes.
At the Giro, we said Cavendish had won the Rome sprint because there were no major rivals. Here, for example, Jakobsen is not even a shadow of himself...
Here though there are all the othersIt's true that Jakobsen isn't going, but I watched the races they did together, from the Tour of Belgium and even some classics up there, and in direct clashes he almost always wonThen there's Van Aert, who sometimes makes me nervous…
In what sense?
He's really going strong, he's currently the strongest, there's no question about that. He makes me nervous because he never holds back and can't finish what he could.Maybe they're human too. Even if you're a champion and you spend more than usual, sooner or later you pay for it. I think this is what's happening. Last week he made that sensational stage. the day of the Tourmalet and then he paid for it. In my opinion it wouldn't be normal if he made those efforts and the next day he also won the stages.
What do you remember about that stage in Valladolid?
I had the impression that the bike went where I wanted, almost as if I were remote-controlling itIt is not only a question of physical condition, but also of a higher awareness. Therefore, if you make a mistake You have the ability to recover from mistakes and anticipate what takes others longer to do..
Clarity that comes from the condition?
Today Philipsen proved to be the fittest. It's clear that this morning, after three stages won, he had an appetite and the awareness of when you are strong and you also know that you can afford something more. So, from a psychological point of view, he approaches the sprint in a much calmer, much more serene way. The others, on the other hand, have an obsession with winning and not making mistakes.And when you're obsessed with not making mistakes, that's the time you make mistakes. And if you make mistakes once, twice, or three times, you won't be able to sprint anymore.
The escape of Oss
Speeches of sprinters and not of attackers. How much energy did he waste today? Daniel Oss in the escape? And how different is it to run by scattering energy with a bucket, rather than rationing it like sprinters do? The Trentino is on the bus and Sagan's voice can be heard underneath (at the last Tour) who makes fun of him, because he would have exploited the slipstream of a motorbike. But Daniel denies it and the other guy starts laughing., saying that he would need a motorbike to help him sprint.
«Now they've seen that I'm also at the Tour – laughs Oss. The idea was to take a slightly larger escape, because it was clear that we wanted to finish in a sprint. There were a few bursts of momentum, it seemed like four or five of us would get away, but instead we found ourselves with only three. We left very slowly, because the group wouldn't leave us.And when they put us under a minute, morale went to zero. It's not that I had any big plans, but I knew that the road turned to the right and the wind would be favorable..
"Let's say you're also quite fast," Oss continues, "that you can keep up a pretty high pace, so hang in there, right? I could go really fast on my own. Instead they got up and just left me there.They broke away because they didn't want to, and that bothered me a little. But in the end I enjoyed those kilometers. There were so many people, it's always cool, it's beautiful to be up front with the crowd and the little rain that could have slowed the group down for fear of slipping. I might have thought I'd have finished if I'd been alone in the last 2 kilometers, but there was still a long way to go, it was all a work in progress. Will I try again? It doesn't depend so much on willpower, but on the legs. The group has a crazy level, they are going really fast, there is really incredible competition."
