VEISTROFFER 10 We had all been waiting for this day – and no, I am not talking about the sprint, but about Veistroffer in the break, on the attack from kilometre zero. What goes through a man’s mind to head off alone on a doomed venture in the heat, with the peloton behind him and his fate already sealed? What must have gone through the head of someone who has only been a cyclist for four years, who holds a degree in climate engineering, worked as a naval engineer for the French navy, and suddenly found himself leading a stage of the Tour? (full answer here) He has now racked up 2,096 kilometres out in front this season with yesterday’s break included, and at the end of the day he also got the announcement of a contract extension with his team through to 2028. “To be honest, I never really believed in it, but there is always that little voice in your head that says: what if all the stars aligned? But you have to be mad to believe it.” Come on, Baptiste – we are mad too, and we believe, and we are cheering for you to win a stage at the Tour.
KOOIJ 9 At his first sprint finish at the Tour, he wins. Stage victories at the Giro and the Tour, 53 career wins in total at just 25 years of age. At one point, first because of physical problems – which caused him to miss the whole spring – and then because of team uncertainty over who would or would not go to the Tour, he risked watching the French race from home, just as happened in the past two seasons with his former team – one of the reasons why he left. Instead, here he is, dazzling beyond belief: the Cheetah, who in one stroke takes on the likeness of Merlier in his pedal stroke, tactical instinct, stylistic elegance and sheer power.
XDS ASTANA 8 Everything was perfect apart from the spearhead: Kanter is certainly no Kooij, but by riding as a unit in the finale they achieved the best result they could possibly have hoped for. They had barely been seen in the previous days, battered by crashes, and at the first real sprint they came away with a stage podium – for the German sprinter, one of the best results of his career, beyond even the rosiest expectations.
UNO-X 7 On the first day in their history defending the yellow jersey, they spent the entire stage controlling the race. They still had the strength in the finale to try to take charge again and launch their sprinter, Wærenskjold, though they left him exposed a little too early. Even so, it remains a historic day for them: nine years ago they were fighting it out in the mud on the Continental circuit and could never have imagined a day like this.
ARTZ 7 The Dutch rider stepped into a new dimension by taking a somewhat unexpected fourth place, a result that means a great deal both for him – a high-quality all-rounder, but certainly not one of the fastest wheels in a Tour sprint – and for the team, which, besides Veistroffer’s breakaway, also has to reckon with the gap left by De Lie after his withdrawal two days ago. He seized the opportunity brilliantly, and others will surely come.
MERLIER 5 One of the day’s great losers. He was left isolated far too early in the chaos of the final sprint because of a crash that helped derail his lead-out train, and on top of that he failed to come out in time for the sprint – too far back, and caught out as well by Kooij’s burst, which in every respect seemed to have stolen both his craft and his likeness. Perhaps drained by four intense days, he will have a couple of stages, after today’s mountains, to make amends before a well-earned rest.
FRETIN 4 As Kanter and Artz showed today, there was room for a surprise, but the Cofidis sprinter could do no better than a disappointing eighth place, even though he finished virtually level with the riders contesting the positions from third place onwards.
PHILIPSEN 3 Along with Merlier – and Girmay, 4 – he is the other great disappointment of the day. The team worked hard, but he, one of the strongest sprinters of recent years – and also among the most successful Tour riders of the past five years, with 10 stage wins – could do no better than fifth place. He launched from too far back and found himself slightly boxed in; after latching onto Merlier’s wheel, he realised far too late that the right choice was on the other side of the road – Kooij’s. It has been a very difficult and subdued start for both Alpecin leaders.