Today's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper speculates t♚hat both Rigoberto Uran and Sergio Henao rode their own race perhaps because both are considering leaving Team Sky at the end of 🌱the season.
Cyclingnews understands that Henao could stay with the British team beyond 2013 but Uran will al❀most certainly leave. His seventh place in the 2012 Giro d'Italia and his haul of UCI points make the 25 year-old Colombian a prime target for teams looking to secure their place in the UCI WorldTour and for a future Grand Tour leader.
O꧟mega Pharma-Quick Step is in currently in pole position to sign Uran🍒 with four other teams also interested, including Astana.
However Team Sky has insisted that Uran and Henao did not ride for themselves on the stage but followed team orders that had been decided before the start of the stage. Head coach Rod Ellingworth told Cyclingnews at the start of stage f🥂ive that both Uran and Henao were told to contest the sprint to try and take away the 20, 12 and 8 second timeಞ bonuses from Wiggins' rivals.
𝓀On stage💜 three, Cadel Evans (BMC) won the sprint for second place and took a 12-secobnd time bonus, with Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) finishing third, and so picking up eight seconds.
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Wiggins lost time on ඣstage four because he was not near the front of the peloton, with Evans, Nibali and Hesjedal, and w♓as caught behind a split in the peloton after a late crash.
Team Sky looked to minimise the 17-second loss. However it was more than the 14 seconds Team Sky gained on key rival Vincenzo Nibali and his Astana team in the team time trial. Gazzetta dello Sport pointed out the importance of every second in stage racing. Last year Joaquim Rodriguez l🌳ost🧜 the Giro d'Italia to Hesjedal by just 16 seconds.
Stephen is one of the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
