Strange but true: one of the most spectacular battles this season in road-racing took place in the dark, in a tunnel, below the Swiss mountains. When Simon Spilak (Katusha-Alpecin) soloed away on the toughest climb of the Tour de Suisse, the only rider to keep him in even remotely in check was Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida), with their duel taking place in a tunnel at the summit of the Tiefenbachferner glacier in Austria.
Slowly but surely in their underground battle, the Basque rider inched ever closer to the his Katusha-Alpecin rival, finally pegging back an initial gap of over a minute to just 22 seconds at the line. It was a hugely impressive counter-attack and a real show of strength in the high mountains. More importantly, it confirmed that Izagirre would complete his last major preparation race for the Tour de France with rising form, as well an encouraging sixth place overall.
Compared to the tunnels of the Tour de Suisse, the 2017 Tour de France, though, represents a different kind of voyage in the dark for Izagirre.
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This season has already represented a lot of new challenges for the 27 year-old Basque rider, with a new team in Bahrain-Merida and a constant role as team leader. Izagirre has never previously had an opportunity to fight for the overall classification at a Grand Tour - in Euskaltel-Euskadi, he was too young and in Movistar he was overshadowed by Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde. Now he faces his first ever battle for overall success at the Tour de France.
Izaguirre admits to Cyclingnews that Tour de France leadership will inevitably involve raised expectations, but thanks to the team's attitude, there won't be too big a hike in pressure on his shoulders.
"It's new, but it's not something that scares me or obsesses me. It's not like the team are making me do the GC, and that's important. Because that way, if it doesn't work out, I can look at other objectives, like stages."
Consistency and results
Going for GC
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