Etixx - Quick-Step finished 4th in the 24.5km ITT from Roanne to Montagny on Tuesday, 18" down on stage winner BMC Racing Team, who finished with a time of 20 minutes, 59 seconds. Astana was 2nd (+4"), and Movistar 3rd (+5"). Etixx - Quick-Step rode the parcours at 48.568 kilometers per hour.
Etixx - Quick-Step crossed the intermediate point in 3rd (+11"), with Astana 2nd (+4"), and BMC Racing Team leading with a time of 15 minutes and 56 seconds.
Etixx - Quick-Step looks next to 228km Stage 4 on Wednesday. The stage looks to also favor a sprint as there are a few low category climbs, but nothing seems to rule out a group arrival.
"It was super hard," Sport and Development Manager Rolf Aldag said. "I think the guys started motivated to win. I think we took a risk to start very fast, and after 3 kilometers we paid the bill for it. We had to sort it out again, restructure the team after things fell apart a little bit. It made us a little delayed at the intermediate split. We were down in numbers because riders were so committed they'd rather be dropped than to miss a pull. Then we got into a really long valley, the uphill was increasingly steeper. Everyone did their best for a good result. There, I think we were absolutely competitive with the other teams. If we discussed now what we would have changed, it'd be the start. Sometimes less at the start is a little bit more. But at this moment we look ahead to the next days, which are sure to be a challenge."