Guillaume Boivin on his attempt for the Giro KOM jersey
'It was a good day'
by Kevin Mackinnon
A ton of TV time certainly helped give Guillaume Boivin’s Israeli Cycling Academy team some exposure, but for the Montreal rider the day ended up being “heartbreaking.”
“The goal was to get the king of the mountains jersey today,” Boivin said after the race. “When we saw the bunch was coming back so quick, we were a bit surprised. We could assume that BMC were going to go after that sprint [the KOM], but we were hoping we were going to have enough time at least, because all we wanted was to go after that KOM—that was the only goal really. I was the last one of the break, but Barbin passed me in the last 100 m or something, which was heartbreaking.”
Boivin wasn’t done after that, though. He pulled clear of the field once again, only to be caught with just over 16 km to go.
“The second time [I broke away] was more to show the jersey. I wasn’t kidding myself out there,” Boivin said, knowing full well the rest of the teams were eager to set things up for a bunch sprint. “We just tried to show the jersey for our fans who have been unbelievable since we arrived in Israel. It was a good day—close but no cigar. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
All that time at the front certainly thrilled the huge crowds and put the Israeli Cycling Academy team front and centre in the coverage.
“It’s always one of the goals, but it would have been really nice to get one of the jerseys, that was the real goal,” Boivin said when asked if that had been the plan. “It wasn’t really my job: it was something we had to do as a team.”
Despite all his efforts, Boivin is feeling good and ready for Sunday’s final stage in Israel, which will take the riders through the Negev desert.
“I’m feeling good,” he said. “I’m going to go and try and recover and have another good day tomorrow.”
