Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost) cut a lonely figure as he crossed the finish line and searched for his soigneurs on day two of the Tour of the Alps.
After spending a large part of the 165 kilometre long stage two in a three-man breakaway, Carr would then go at it alone on the final climb, only to be caught as the summit neared by a rampaging Ineos mountain train.
Carr would ultimately finish 59th, more than nine minutes behind the stage winner Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers).
Speaking to the media on the concrete of the Ritten Arena, Carr explained that he ultimately was made to suffer for his early efforts at the start of the stage when the final climb eventually arrived.
“We never had much of a gap all day. I used quite a lot of energy at the start as there was just the two of us,” he said. “I think I paid for that in the final. I was still feeling good, but then the final part was really hard. Particularly with the descents as well, it kind of breaks your rhythm a bit. I was suffering there.”
After growing up in the south of France, Carr has regularly shown that he's more than at home in the high mountains as he did this afternoon in Italy.
“I was definitely the strongest guy in the breakaway, then it was just a question of trying to get the most out of it, and get everyone pulling well… on the climb I ended up going solo, and from there I was just all in, it was a super hard day.”
After Carr's teammate and fellow Briton Hugh Carthy launched an unsuccessful attack in the closing moments of stage one, it was a second aggressive day for the EF Education-EasyPost team. Carr highlighted Carthy’s position, as well as that of Jefferson Cepeda in the general classification, and promised more edge of your seat, attacking racing from his team.
“I think we’ve still got two guys close on the GC… We can get some opportunities as well in the breakaways, as the race progresses they’ll be more likely to succeed, so that’s the goal for the rest of the week,” Carr added.
After stage two, Carthy sits third behind current race leader and stage winner Geoghegan Hart at 22 seconds. Cepeda is ninth, 40 seconds from the lead.
“I think we’ve got a really strong team this year, and had some success. That’s motivating,” he said. “On a personal level I haven’t actually won for like two years, so I’m really motivated to win again. I’ve been close on a few occasions with breakaways, but at the end of the day it’s often the bunch that decides the gap.”
