Il Tour of Switzerland has already archived three stages. Yesterday Skjelmose's success, the day before yesterday Girmay, but so far it has been the first stage that has aroused quite a bit of interest given the order of arrival. In the inaugural time trial, first Stefan Kung. Second Remco Evenepoel. Third Wout Van Aert… such a podium did not escape the considerations of Adriano Malori.
The former Italian time trial champion and today established trainer, He has clear ideas about that first stage: the 12,7-kilometer loop of Einsiedeln. And all in all, he wasn't all that impressed by Kung's victory.
Kung from prediction
A time trial of 14'-15' was expected, instead It was won in 13'31” at an average speed of 56,375 km/h.
«It was a very quick test – Malori said – there were several sections that even went down a little and on courses like that Kung was the favourite. But what is not secondary is that of the three he was probably the only one who had prepared it meticulously."
In fact, Kung is Swiss and he really cared, he was betting big on this home match. Let's not forget his abandonment of the Tour of Italy right at the second time trial thinking about other commitments.
"Evenepoel himself," Malori continues, "was suffering from post-Covid exhaustion, from a significant amount of preparation... And Van Aert was more or less on the same page, having just come down from the hill, so not yet fully fit."
Yellow doubts about Remco
But regarding Remco's performance, Malori declared himself surprised by the good performance of the Belgian from Soudal-Quick Step. An unexpected brilliance according to “Malo”, which induces thoughts that have their reason.
«I didn't expect it to be so strong, especially after Covid. He, who has to aim for the World Cup, which is in mid-August, if things go like this already… he's too far ahead. That condition doesn't make sense. So I wouldn't rule out the possibility of him starting the Tour de France. Which would support my thesis. That is, at the Giro... the history of Covid it wasn't true (his team has already declared several times that the Tour is not part of the Belgian's plans and so it did the same world champion, editor's note).
«It's a thought I've already expressed. And that also ties in with the way Catalunya ran and won Liège, practically conquered with a cigar in his mouth. He made Pidcock look like an amateur." In short, he would have been a little too fit to finish the Giro strong. Maybe he already had other goals in mind: this is the summary of Malori's speech. "Okay, it's fantasy cycling... I realize that."
Cross-targets
As for the rest, even on the material front, there wasn't much to report from Malori on the three "tenors".
«It was a Swiss time trial, the materials are the tested ones and they didn't waste too much time on them. It wasn't even the time.
«However, I noticed a couple of technical-tactical aspects. The first is that Van Aert was excessively agile, His gear ratio was missing a tooth or two, and I think if he'd had one, he would have gladly put it in and pushed it. But let's get back to what we were talking about earlier: it was an important time trial, yes, but it was given the right weight in the preparation phase, even in terms of materials.
«The other thing I noticed was that even though it was a fast time trial, it had a lot of curves. It was all right-left and I saw the two Belgians did not make the most of the entire road. They didn't cut the corners properly. The two of them stayed in the center, while Kung used the entire lane.
«I think that only in the last corner Evenepoel lost 3”-4” to the Swiss. Also because he came out slower and then the cobbles began, so he couldn't pick up speed much more."
Kung again?
Kung, Evenepoel, and Van Aert dominated the scene. They proved to be the best, and that was to be expected. Now it will be interesting to see what the values on the field will be as the Swiss race evolves and what awaits the athletes subsequently. Kung isn't expected to be at the Tour, and theoretically, neither is Evenepoel. Van Aert, however, is present for the Grande Boucle.
Not to mention that Kung threw overrevving (he was foaming at the mouth upon arrival), driving risks and a knowledge of the roads that the other two didn't have.
«I believe – concludes Malori – that in the final time trial (the 25,7 kilometer St. Gallen-Abtwil, ed.) Stefan is still the favorite. He is banking on it a lot, he has different motivations than the two Belgians and above all he will be able to get there fresher as he won't have to do the general classification like Remco, nor work towards the Tour like Van Aert."
