James Shaw headed to the Giro d'Italia with a certain sense of history repeating itself this May, as for the second Grand Tour running, a late withdrawal from the start list by teammate and GC leader Richard Carapaz has forced EF Education-EasyPost to change their race strategies at the last minute.
Six days before the Vuelta a España last year, Carapaz was confirmed as a non-starter because of illness, and shortly before the Giro d'Italia this May, the lingering effects of an operation meant the former race winner would not be able to participate.
Cue one radical switch-around for the non-GC leaders like Shaw in EF Education, who, together with Markel Beloki and Madis Mihkels, was present in the Vuelta a España last year and who was brought to the Giro to work for Carapaz. However, with no Carapaz, the team has now switched to focus on breakaways.
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While the Giro is markedly different compared to the Vuelta or Tour, and riders' form might be more uneven than July, Shaw told Cyclingnews that getting into breakaways in the Giro d'Italia is just as hard as any other Grand Tour.
"Maybe that was the case [that it was easier to get in breaks] a few years ago, but that's certainly changed a bit now," Shaw said.
"Even if you get in these breakaways, you've got guys that are trying to get themselves back up on GC, or guys like Jay Vine [in the Vuelta a España] who've written their GC off. So the quality of breaks is higher than it was even as little as four or five years ago.
"Obviously, when Richie was coming to this race, that's when I got put on the list with Richie and for Richie.
"But the plan's changed, the team have been kind enough to give me an opportunity and let me try and see the race for myself as well."
With a Tour, three Vueltas and now a second Giro in his palmares, the 29-year-old has certainly got plenty of past Grand Tour experience to help him find a path towards potential success. But as he agrees, each of the three has very different defining characteristics as well.
"It's a little bit different, you know, the other races don't tend to do the long distance starts, and I've done Albania [in the Giro] now as well. That's different. But when you get to Italy, I think for me at least, the Giro is the hardest to finish: the longer days, the heavier mountains, the weather ... each race has got its own thing. The Tour's the fastest and the Vuelta is certainly the hottest, and the Giro is definitely the most scenic and romantic."
One notable difference from his previous Grand Tours is the presence of another rider from his old amateur club on the startlist, after fellow Nottingham, UK pro Josh Giddings got the latest of late call-ups when one of his Lotto-Intermarché teammates, Liam Slock, fell ill last week.
"We rode for the same club as kids, Heanor Clarion on the Nottinghamshire-Derbyshire border, there's a photo somewhere of me teaching him how to ride the rollers," Shaw said with a smile.
"I'm probably like 16, 17, and he's probably like 9 or 10 or something like that. It was before he had his growth spurt," - Giddings now being 1 metre 95 and nearly 20 centimetres taller than the EF racer.
Rather than altitude camp, as is often the case pre-Grand Tour, Shaw was racing the Ardennes Classics before the Giro, which he sums up as having "different conditions, different advantages and different disadvantages."
But the goal of breakaways remains the same, and rather than take it day-by-day, he is, as he says, a rider who looks at the route book and opts to ease back on one stage to be stronger on the crunch moments for his own options.
"You choose your battles," he puts it. However, when it comes to marginal gains for breaks like wearing a skinsuit, it's taken for granted that "you do that kind of stuff every day anyway, it's all so fast now. It's not an advantage if you're wearing, just a disadvantage if you're not."
If Shaw will hopefully be drawing media attention on his own account by getting in the breaks, one hot topic of conversation for the whole EF squad was their special 'Alien' kit for the Giro.
"It's not for me," Shaw recognises, "I really liked the white one from last year. But it's a good alternative, and it's a change."
But despite the UFO-themed kit, when it comes to what he has to do at the Giro this May, there's no doubt Shaw is on very familiar terrain - and with both feet on the ground when it comes to trying to make the most of it.
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