For Ineos Grenadiers leader Geraint Thomas, the stage 10 time trial at the Vuelta a España provided an opportunity to reset his race after a troubled opening nine days. However, there would be no let-up in the misfortune in Valladolid on Tuesday.
The Welshman and his teammates may have had reason to celebrate as Filippo Ganna sped to the stage victory on the 25.8km course, but he was once again blighted by bad luck after suffering a mechanical during his own run.
That setback is the latest of several suffered by Thomas at the Vuelta following crashes on stages 2 and 7, the losses of key climbers Laurens De Plus and Thymen Arensman to crashes, and time losses on each mountain stage so far – at Andorra, Javalambre, Xorret de Catí, and Sunday's race to Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca.
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"You've just got to laugh really, haven't you?" Thomas told reporters in Valladolid following his TT effort, which saw him end up 20th, two minutes down on Ganna.
"I thought I'd treat it like I was going full, you know? I attacked it at the start because even if I sit up halfway around, it'll still do me good for tomorrow because if I don't do much, then I block up, and I can feel terrible. A good hit-out was what I wanted anyway."
Thomas stopped midway through the time trial and was forced to change bikes after a gearing problem saw his chain stuck against his frame.
Despite the mishap, he said that he felt good physically during the stage but was forced to treat the remainder of the ride as a warm-up of sorts for the coming days.
"I actually felt OK," he said. "I was still doing the numbers that were on the plan, but then the chain got stuck between the 11 and the frame.
"I had to change bikes, and then I was like, 'Ah, I'll just push a bit,' but I switched off a bit and then rode it in. I treated it as a nice little warmup for the rest of the week."
Wednesday brings another major challenge for him and the main GC contenders – though Thomas now trails red jersey Sepp Kuss by 13:05 in the standings. Another summit finish, this time to La Laguna Negra, lies ahead, while further mountain challenges await in the form of the Col du Tourmalet and Larra-Belagua later this week.
With his hopes of a high GC position now seemingly reliant on gaining time in breakaways, Thomas said that his Ineos Grenadiers squad will be treating each stage as its own race in an effort to add to the stage win scored by Ganna.
"I think as a team, we just have to start every day like it's a one-day really," he said. "I think we'll try and make the moves because you never know when a breakaway might go, but at the same time, it might be a GC day as well.
"I think we just need to race every day as best we can and keep believing in ourselves. It has been hard, to be honest, because a lot of things have gone wrong. But that's the way it goes sometimes. We've just got to keep our heads up and keep trying, and that's all we can do."
