Enzo Paleni had a plan going into stage 3 of the Tour Down Under, which was not only to go into the breakaway but to play with the pacing of the group, to try and influence the chasing peloton and hopefully make it to the finish line. It almost worked.
The Groupama-FDJ United rider was caught in the final kilometre of the stage by the charging pack, who were determined to have a bunch sprint.
It wasn’t the first attempt for the Frenchman this week. On stage 1, he was, once again, the last man standing when he was reeled in with seven kilometres to go.
“I like the art of the breakaway, so every time I go in, I try to go to the end. I don't care about the polka dot jersey or the sprint [jersey]. My goal is to go to the end, so I try all I can. I knew it was gonna be hard,” Paleni told Seven at the finish in Nairne.
For the hilly stage 3, Paleni had a plan as he wanted to take advantage of the tailwind in the final 10 kilometres. To do so, he needed a few strong riders. The 23-year-old was the first to make the move, at kilometre zero, and he was soon joined by compatriot Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché) and KOM leader Marian Urianstad (Uno-X Mobility).
“t's always better because you can ride together. Luckily, we had the KOM jersey. So he wanted the points, we let him, and then one of the French guys, Veistroffer. I told him yesterday, let's go to the breakaway, we can make it.”
The trio worked well together, but the field kept them on a tight leash, always under the three-minute mark. But Paleni was ready for that too. With 50 kilometres to go, the trio had slightly over one minute to the bunch, but they were ready with a strategy.
“We pace a lot during all the stages, until then we slow down quite hard, from 55 kilometres to 40 to slow down the bunch and then go hard for the last hour,” he explained.
Their strategy worked well for a time. They still had 54 seconds with 30km to go, and then their lead had grown by 10 more seconds, 10km later, but the peloton started to slowly close it down.
Urianstad was the first rider to falter, and then Veistroffer, leaving Paleni to continue on solo inside of five kilometres to the finish line. And he almost made it.
“The bunch caught me 800 metres to go. It's not the first time it’s happened to me, ” Paleni said with a chuckle, “so I will give it a try again, I like the breakaway on the flat stages. It's always more interesting because you can play with the bunch and, yeah, enjoy my day. Unfortunately, I don't go to the finish, but I'm sure one day it will pay.”
The next time could be on the final stage, where the peloton will tackle eight laps of an undulating circuit in the Adelaide Hills.
“On Sunday, we have a good stage. We will see with the GC, but for sure, if there is an opportunity, I will go for it.”
For his effort, Paleni was awarded the most combative rider prize at the end of the stage.
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