In a world of cycling dominated by ultra-talented youngsters, fast-tracked champions, and athletes emerging from other sports, Nicolas Prodhomme’s stage win at the Giro d’Italia – and what a stage it was – tells a different story. It’s the story of someone who arrives late, for all kinds of reasons: injuries, setbacks, or simply a slower path to maturity. Prodhomme has always had the legs – you don’t win a race like the Bassano-Montegrappa at twenty unless you’ve got the engine. But despite his potential, he spent years on the edge, taken on as a stagiaire three times by different WorldTour teams, yet never quite making the leap. Until AG2R Citroën – one of those same three teams – finally called him back and gave him a real chance. At 28, he seized it with both hands, landing a career-defining stage win that will likely change the course of his future. In today’s throwaway culture, where teams are hungry for youth and patience is rare, his story is almost an anomaly – and all the more valuable for that.
As for the general classification battle, things played out in a fairly predictable fashion. Still, despite the praise – particularly from Garzelli on Italian TV – for UAE Team Emirates’ tactical management, I see things a bit differently. Early stage breakaways are part of the game, but recently they’ve grown to unusual proportions: 25, 30, even 38 riders up the road. At that point, it’s hard to call it a breakaway – it’s practically a second peloton. UAE has been letting them go, perhaps too easily. Sure, letting a group break away can be strategically sound – but only to a point. When 30 riders go up the road, it’s hard to keep track of who’s in there, even for team cars listening to race radio. And if a potential threat to the GC, or a few key domestiques of a rival team, happen to be among them, then bringing them back becomes a costly move: how many riders will you have to burn to close it down? And who will be left to support your leader in the final kilometers? Trying to contain a massive breakaway from the start is a challenge. But chasing once it’s already a minute up the road? That’s a whole different level of effort. So, while many have said that UAE’s tactics have been spot on, I’d argue the opposite: they can afford to be slightly careless simply because their riders are that much stronger. With guys like Majka and Yates, who would be podium contenders in most other teams, they can dominate even without perfect planning. And that sheer physical dominance showed today. The pace set by UAE was so high it crushed any hopes of a counterattack.
Did we expect more from this stage? Maybe. But as I’ve said before, this Giro has been raced at redline from the beginning, and now it’s payback time for many. Even Carapaz’s attack, though brave, lacked real punch. It felt more like a move of pride than a tactical strike – the kind of attack you make when you simply refuse to give in, no matter the cost. And if no one followed, the reason is clear: the tank was empty.
