"Incredible" Tudor and "very angry" Storer strike back with tactical masterpiece: "Others had done him dirty"

Storer usually doesn’t show much emotion, but after Thursday’s grueling stage, when he was back on the team bus and later at the hotel, the frustration was clear. That’s what teammate Florian Stork revealed afterward to IDLProCycling.com. "Michael was really motivated because he was very angry after yesterday’s stage. He felt like the others had done him dirty. Nobody wanted to pull, so he was determined to take the lead back today. I’m super proud of him."

Stork was referring to the leader’s jersey that Storer had firmly in hand but lost to Arensman, who rode minutes clear of the rest because everyone in the chase group was looking at Storer. The climber eventually had to go all-in with a solo effort to limit his time loss to the Dutch INEOS rider. "I’m happy that I was able to limit my time loss yesterday and that I had a great day today. Yesterday didn’t really change my racing style, I would have done this anyway," Storer himself said.

The overall winner didn't have any kind words for the racing style of his competitors on Thursday. "I was pretty irritated with the other teams because they were all racing against me rather than for their own general classification. Guys like Giulio Ciccone and Felix Gall could have finished on the podium, but instead they chose to put pressure on me and threw away their own podium chances. I didn’t understand that at all. I was confused by the attitude of the other teams, but that’s cycling," Storer said.

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To make up the 11-second deficit to Arensman in a short final stage, Tudor of course put plans into place. "We had a few scenarios ready, one with someone in the breakaway and one without anyone up front. Lucas Eriksson eventually made it into the break, so we chose the second-to-last climb as the place to launch Michael, after which Lucas could wait," explained Stork, who has been riding strongly all season and impressed with a bizarre turn uphill. "It was incredible how fast we were going."

"I did an all-out effort without really looking at my power meter," said the German. "I gave everything I had for as long as I could, and when I pulled off, I was surprised that only Michael and Arensman were still there." After Stork’s effort, Storer attacked solo. "It feels extra good when you’ve been talking about a plan like this on the bus, and then you execute it perfectly. That doesn’t happen often, and it’s really, really cool."

Because when Storer reached the summit and descended, Eriksson had dropped back from the breakaway to help. "I’m super, super happy with how the stage went. The guys were fully behind me and everything went exactly according to plan. Lucas was in the break, waited for me, and before that, all the guys did the hardest pull they could. That’s how we put Thymen under pressure, and that’s how I managed to ride away from him."

The fact that the battle in the Tour of the Alps ended up being between Storer and Arensman made it even more special, as the two used to ride together at DSM. "It was a two-day battle, but Thymen and I know each other well from our time at DSM. We have a lot of respect for each other, and even though we’re rivals now, we still talk regularly in the peloton. I enjoy racing against him, although I would prefer if he were a little less strong," Storer said with a laugh when asked.

The fact that he and Arensman finished minutes ahead of the other general classification contenders had an explanation, according to Storer. "I’m in good form, but the huge time gaps are also a result of the way the race was ridden and the nature of the course. This edition was much tougher than in previous years, so you get bigger differences. It’s definitely a confidence boost for the Giro, although I already knew I was in good shape for this race. But this result shows that I'm not only good in training, but also when it counts in races."

Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])