Moritz Kretschy defends Tour de Taiwan lead after challenging Stage 3

“It felt like the entire peloton had one goal: to break us apart. But that was totally expected, wasn’t it?”

This was the sentiment expressed by Itamar Einhorn, still gasping for breath, just seconds after finishing Stage 3 of the Tour de Taiwan in Shigang on Tuesday.

Every one of the Israel – Premier Tech riders who battled to defend Moritz Kretschy’s yellow jersey shared this sentiment.

To accomplish their mission, they had to fend off relentless attacks – dozens of them—from the very start of the 154.3km stage, the longest of the race, especially when the peloton reached the hardest climb.

In the first part of the stage, the workload fell on the three Israelis – Einhorn, Rotem Tene, and Imry Faingezicht— who took turns chasing down moves. After the race, Faingezicht admitted: “I’ve never had to chase so much in a single race. It took everything out of me, but when we realized we succeeded, it was a deeply satisfying moment.”

In the end, it was the young German leader Kretschy who faced the biggest test, especially in the second half of the stage. Only he and his teammate Brady Gilmore (who won Stage 2 on Monday) managed to stay in the elite group that surged ahead, shattering the peloton completely.

Kretschy later reflected on the brutal stage: “It was a really hard day. They put a lot of pressure on us, and we had to follow a lot of moves and also close the gap ourselves. In the end, we’re still good in the GC, but of course, it was tough. Hopefully, the next days will be a bit easier to defend the jersey, but I think we did quite well and showed that we are the strongest. So yeah, it looks good for the moment.”

Despite his efforts, Kretschy finished fourth on the stage, successfully defending his slim seven-second lead. But as the race nears its climax, his list of rivals has only grown. With just two stages to go, no fewer than 11 riders are within 17 seconds of his lead. Gilmore remains second on GC, three seconds down, but the bonus seconds claimed by Italian stage winner Giacomo Ballabio (HAC) saw him jump up the standings to fourth.

Asked if there was a moment he thought they might be losing control, Kretschy admitted: “In the second half of the race, I had some cramps, so I was suffering a lot. But I was still confident enough to follow the move and stay calm, even if I had a gap, because I knew I was strong enough to close it again.”

With two decisive stages left, Kretschy and his teammates will have to fight to the very last kilometer, as every intermediate sprint and bonus second could be crucial. Can they hold on to yellow? They surely believe so.