The Giant-Alpecin team itself was among those caught out when Giro d’Italia leader Tom Dumoulin’s development as a Grand Tour contender suddenly accelerated during last year’s Vuelta a España.
As per tradition, Giant-Alpecin had arrived at the start in Marbella with a team built around a fast finisher, in this instance John Degenkolb, and the nine-man selection was composed primarily of riders to chase down escapes and set up sprints. Even Dumoulin, on hand to prepare for the World Championships time trial, was delegated a role in the lead-out train.
When Dumoulin seized the red jersey after triumphing atop the Cumbre del Sol on stage 9, however, Giant-Alpecin’s line-up was hurriedly organised into an unfamiliar formation. The skills of setting up a bunch sprint were applied elsewhere, and men such as Luka Mezgec, Johannes Frohlinger and Koen de Kort were redeployed to position Dumoulin at the foot of climbs.
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The experiment proved a success – Dumoulin only lost the red jersey on the penultimate stage, after all – but the Dutchman’s isolation prompted a rethink when it came to selecting a team for the Giro. It is instructive that, Dumoulin apart, Tom Stamsnijder is the only other survivor from last year’s Vuelta to make the Giro team. Solid climbers such as Georg Preidler, Chad Haga and Tobias Ludvigsson are on hand to complement the work of Bert De Backer, Cheng Ji et al.
More on this story:
Giro d’Italia stage 7 results
Giro d’Italia stage 7: Finish line quotes
Giro d’Italia stage 7 highlights - video
“We have more climbers with us. We’re a better balanced team that’s for sure,” Stamsnijder told Cyclingnews in Sulmona on Friday, ahead of Dumoulin’s sixth day in the maglia rosa. “I don’t think it’s that much different except there’s more climbers to stay with Tom in the final, but bear in mind that those guys are still young so it’s still a learning curve.
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