Rockets lead-out joins motorbike criticism after Groenewegen misses historic Giro sprint chance

A four rider breakaway survived all the way to the line, with Fredrik Dversnes Lavik taking the win after a long day out front. Behind him, the sprint teams arrived too late. Groenewegen crossed the line in sixth place for Unibet Rose Rockets, left to explain how a stage that seemed under control had somehow disappeared up the road.

“It wasn’t really that we did something wrong,” Groenewegen said afterwards to CyclingPro.net. “The break was just still in front. I maybe started my sprint a little bit early, but everyone was already on the limit. That was the maximum today.”

For the Rockets, who were without sprint coach Marcel Kittel, the disappointment was clear. This was one of the days circled in red. After two weeks of racing, sprint chances are rare, and Milan looked like the opportunity to finally finish the job. Instead, the team spent its riders one by one in the chase and still could not close the gap.

“We tried,” Groenewegen said. “We just did not come any closer. We put the whole team on the front, and other teams did the same. Trek was there, Quick Step was there. In the end the breakaway was too strong. Everybody was out of gas.”

The local laps in Milan added another layer to the chase. The circuit was technical enough to favour riders already in front, with corners breaking the rhythm of the peloton. The heat did not help either.

“It was quite hot, and those local laps made it hard,” Groenewegen said. “The last days have also made it even harder. But I think we did everything we had today.”

There was, however, more frustration inside the Rockets camp. Lead-out rider Elmar Reinders had been forced into the chase earlier than planned and admitted he could not fully explain why the move stayed clear.

“It is hard to say, because I was not at the front,” Reinders said. “But we burned all our guys, so we did not come back. I tried in the final one and a half kilometres, but I had no chance.”

Reinders was visibly irritated by the way the stage had unfolded. Asked whether he had an explanation, he did not hide that there was more being discussed than simple fatigue.

“Everyone has an explanation, but maybe not one meant for TV,” he said.

When asked what he meant by that, Reinders pointed towards the race convoy ahead of the leaders, joining Max Walscheid in his frustration over the way the race unfolded.

“That there was a very good motorbike,” he said.

For the Rockets, that only added to the disbelief. Several teams had committed their helpers to the chase, yet the gap refused to fall quickly enough. Reinders summed up the frustration bluntly.

“We burned thirty guys, and still we could not do it,” he said. “It is hard to believe.”

Groenewegen was more cautious when asked about the breakaway’s survival. “I was not in the break, so I can only speak from the peloton,” he said. “We gave everything. We could not really go much faster. We used everyone, and in the end we came up short.”

The Dutch sprinter did not blame the circuit itself. While others may have seen danger in the tram tracks, cobbles and barriers, and the final lap ultimately led to the neutralisation of the GC standings, Groenewegen had a different view.

“For me it was beautiful,” he said. “I loved the local lap. The crowd was great, the weather was good, and the atmosphere was beautiful. I have nothing to complain about there.”

Still, the result hurts. Groenewegen is at the Giro to win stages, not to collect near misses. The Rockets had committed fully to the chase, and the cost of that effort was visible long before the final kilometre.

“I came here to win, so of course it is disappointing,” he said. “We had been working towards this for days. But the team rode strongly. Everyone gave what he had. If that was all we had today, then I have to accept it.”