With the entire Alpecin-Fenix team, including Stage 1 winner Mathieu van der Poe, dropping out of the race due to a positive COVID result, Stage 2 of the 2021 UAE Tour was an open canvas for the TT specialists to make their mark.
Coming off of the cyclocross World Championships, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) did not expect to take a leadership role at the 2021 UAE Tour Stage 1, but found himself racing comfortably in the echelons and rode to victory.
Tao Geoghegan Hart claimed his first Grand Tour victory as he outclassed a Team Sunweb duo formed of Wilco Kelderman and Jai Hindley at the mountain top finish of Piancavallo in the 2020 Giro d’Italia.
Jhonatan Narvaez claimed his first Giro d’Italia stage win at Cesenatico, the second for Ecuador after Jonathan Caicedo atop the Etna and the third for Team Ineos Grenadiers after Filippo Ganna’s two successes
Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) claimed his fourth stage victory in the 2020 Giro d’Italia in a bunch sprint in Rimini, beating Peter Sagan (Bora – Hansgrohe) and Álvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-Quick Step)
Peter Sagan (Bora – Hansgrohe) soloed to win Stage 10 of the 2020 Giro d’Italia, 177km from Lanciano to Tortoreto.
Jonathan Caicedo emulated his compatriot Richard Carapaz, last year’s Giro d’Italia winner overall, as he won Stage 3 to Mount Etna before his former breakaway companions Giovanni Visconti and Harm Vanhoucke.
Sam Bennett captured his maiden Tour de France win in emphatic fashion in Saint-Martin-de-Ré.
In Stage 5 of the 2020 Tour de France, Wout Van Aert notches another for Jumbo Visma, while an illegal feed knocks Julian Alaphilippe out of the maillot jaune.
The balance of power at the 2020 Tour de France is already clearer: Primoz Roglic and his Jumbo-Visma team are looking like the ones to beat.