Tour de France: favourites biding their time after tough year, says technical director
- No breakaway on fifth stage attributed to ‘long hiatus’ after global coronavirus pandemic
- ‘We’re impatient and demanding but you can’t be at 100 per cent for three weeks,’ says technical director Gouvenou.
The Tour de France’s top guns have been biding their time since the Grand Depart on Saturday, making for an uneventful start to the 2020 race, but they have been excused by the race’s technical director, Thierry Gouvenou.
On Wednesday, no breakaway was formed in the fifth stage, an almost unprecedented scenario in normal racing conditions, and the favourites held their fire again on a punishing climb during Thursday’s sixth stage.
Defending champion Egan Bernal of Colombia and French darling Thibaut Pinot had already said they were keeping their powder dry for the third week, when the race reaches the Alps.
“They’re managing their efforts. We drew an extremely hard Tour and they’re here after a long hiatus [amid the Covid-19 crisis],” Gouvenou said on Thursday.
The main contenders are unlikely to be willing to take the overall lead in order to avoid the pressure of defending the yellow jersey.
