Baudin fights on, but stays realistic about team time trial: 'We used up a lot of energy today'

Alex Baudin safely kept hold of the yellow jersey in the second stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. EF Education-EasyPost kept the breakaway within five minutes, so the team’s mission was accomplished. Tuesday’s team time trial, however, is set to be a much tougher test.

“I’m happy to have another day in yellow. It is a great honour to wear and defend this jersey,” Baudin said afterwards in his interview with Cycling Pro Net. The responsibility for not letting the break get too far away rested entirely on EF Education’s shoulders. The other teams were already thinking about the important team time trial and were therefore saving their energy.

“I’m sorry for the guys,” Baudin joked about the amount of work his teammates had to do. “But they did an amazing job,” he continued. “Max and Alastair (Walker and MacKellar, ed.) spent 150 kilometres the two of them riding against ten riders; that was very impressive. In the end, the whole team had to work to keep the jersey. Thanks to them, we managed it.”

“We were lucky that the best-placed rider in the break on GC was five minutes down,” Baudin went on. “We initially gave them that gap, and in the final phase we had to bring it back down further. We then rode a bit harder, and that went fine.”

On Tuesday, Baudin will have to try to defend his leader’s jersey in a team time trial of almost 30 kilometres, which also includes a few stingy climbs along the way. The yellow jersey wearer admits it will be difficult. “We’ll try. It will definitely not be easy. There are many teams that can do better than us. Today we already used up a lot of energy, but we will give it everything. We have already trained for it in altitude camp,” Baudin concluded, defiantly, in the flash interview.