Luck has not gone the way of UAE Team Emirates-XRG at the Giro d’Italia. It began in the build-up to the race with the news that illness would keep anointed leader João Almeida from his first big goal of the year, but the amended lineup sent to the first Grand Tour of the season was still one of the strongest in the race, Adam Yates promoted to headline status. With 16 Grand Tours under his belt, seven top-10 finishes, one Tour de France podium, and the Tour’s white jersey in 2016, Yates brought with him a wealth of experience, and the opportunity to pick up where twin brother Simon left off 11 months ago.
Alas, it all came crashing down on stage 2 of the Grande Partenza in Bulgaria, literally.
Kit Nicholson
23 km from the end of the undulating, rain-soaked stage from Burgas to Veliko Tarnovo, the bunched-up peloton entered a sweeping right-hander on the descent towards the Red Bull KM. Among the teams formed up together across the flat front of the bunch were Netcompany-Ineos on the inside line, with Alpecin-Premier Tech and Visma-Lease a Bike between the British team and UAE Team Emirates, which held the outside. Had the roads been dry, the slick tarmac might have been praised for its smoothness and speed, but after being slathered with rain for hours before the peloton arrived, the road was slippery beneath the tyres, meaning there was an unusually high risk of crashing.
Mikkel Bjerg led his teammates through the bend, keeping his spacing with Visma’s Tim Rex off his right shoulder. But then second-wheel Marc Soler began his slow and unstoppable fall to the ground, his body an unavoidable obstacle to all those lined up behind him. And they all just kept sliding until they hit the immovable guard rail. Bjerg looked over his shoulder, the only UAE rider left at the front, stopped pedalling, shook his head, then cursed loudly.
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