A six-man move featuring Primož Roglič and Oakville, Ont.’s Michael Leonard forced its way clear early and quickly built a gap. Right now, it hovers just under three minutes as the race hit the major climbs. They’re joined by Maxime Decomble, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Louis Vervaeke, and Roland Thalmann. Thalmann leads the KOM and is defo padding his lead today as the riders let him take maximum points.
Helluva stage
The stage itself was always going to invite something aggressive. Two early climbs come back-to-back to soften things up, and after a short reset, the road rises again into a long, decisive ascent before the run to Charmey. It’s the kind of profile where a break can either get reeled in brutally, or go all the way. That might depend on the mood of the world champ, Tadej Pogačar, who leads the overall.
UAE controlling race
So far, the peloton hasn’t panicked. UAE is at the front, however, but they are riding tempo to keep the break from getting too far up the road. Sort of like at Liège-Bastogne-Liège where a whopping 52 riders—including Remco Evenepoel—got almost four minutes on Pogačar and Paul Seixas last weekend. That took a while to claw them back.
Up front overall, Pogačar still looms over everything, already two stage wins deep this week. But with Roglič up the road and Leonard in the mix, Saturday’s queen stage has taken on a different shape entirely. Roglič sits pretty far down on the GC, but he is definitely going to be a huge help in this escape, if somehow the boys try and go all the way.
Leonard started the day 23rd overall. He also moved up a few spots in the white jersey competition, sitting sixth overall.
Check back on Canadian Cycling Magazine for a full report after. Go Leonard, go!