A late crash for overall contender Aleksandr Vlasov on stage 6 of the Tour de France took its toll with a vengeance 24 hours later as the Russian shipped nearly two minutes on La Super Planches des Belles Filles on Friday's stage 7.
Considered an outside favourite by many, including 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) after a string of successes earlier this year, Vlasov was also Bora-Hansgrohe's main candidate to add a second Grand Tour to their Giro d'Italia triumph with Jai Hindley earlier this year.
But on a tough day for the German squad as Lennard Kämna came agonisingly close to winning the stage, halfway up the Planche des Belles Filles, Vlasov was seen flailing at the back of the bunch.
Previously seventh overall at 52 seconds but now slumping to 2:41 behind Tour de France leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Vlasov's time loss of 1:39 had the feel of a significant but not decisive defeat.
The Russian remained upbeat at the finish, saying that the crash of 24 hours earlier had heavily impacted his performance on the Tour's first summit finish.
"It was bad for me, I have muscle pain in my lower back, and I was suffering a bit in the last part of the race," Vlasov said. "I tried just to keep my rhythm not to lose so much."
Fourth in the 2021 Giro d'Italia and making his Tour de France debut Vlasov said that he would do his utmost to try and turn things around in the stages to come.
"It was a bad day for me," he admitted, "but I hope to recover fast and do something good."
