On the day of the next Danish Tour de France festival, Freiburg’s Simon Geschke comfortably defended the mountain jersey – and only became aware of his record on television.
The king of the mountains was shocked and full of pride. “I didn’t know it at all, but the German record holder is certainly good,” said professional cyclist Simon Geschke, when he only found out about his record in a TV interview in Saint-Etienne. No other German before him was allowed to wear the five-dotted jersey in the Tour de France.
Geschke: “So maybe I’m a worthy record holder”
In the latter part of his career, the 36-year-old surpassed Marcel Wurst, who wore “Malot Pois” four times at the start of the Tour of France in 2000. “So maybe I’m a worthy record holder because Wurst was more than a runner,” Geschke said with a smile.
Gather strength for the Pyrenees
He sees his chances of wearing the jersey in Paris as very slim. But there is hope for more days at the top of the mountain classification: “I recover every day and try to gather as much strength as possible for the Pyrenees,” said Geschke, watching the decisive high mountain stages.
He had previously claimed his jersey without trouble, with Dan Mads Pedersen exiting a different group to win the stage. The 25-year-old road world champion of 2019 fulfilled a lifelong dream with his first Tour stage success straight up a bit upstairs at home – and he also made sure to keep the Danish celebration going at the Tour de France. Since the Grand Departure in Copenhagen, the country has been in a mass cycling frenzy. Magnus Kort Nielsen secured Denmark’s first win of the day on Tuesday, before Jonas Winggaard took the next stage success and a day later in the Alps flew to the yellow jersey, which he defended effortlessly on Friday.
Pedersen said triumphantly, “It’s unbelievable to finally get this win. It took a lot of energy and a lot of effort, but now it works.” “With drivers like me having few options on a tour like this, I had to take advantage of the opportunity.” But: “I’m not satisfied yet, I want more.”
The stage at Le Bourg-d’Oissons began after a few days of alpine efforts, on which the final climb to Col du Galibier and cycling mecca Alpe d’Huez took place twice in the event. On a largely flat 192.6 km, it went on three short climbs to finish in Saint-tienne, the Tour stage location for the 27th time.
Top group this time without German participation
After the usual busy initial phase, the seven-strong top group of the day was initially formed – unlike the previous time without German participation. Instead, in addition to the final stage winner Pedersen, Canadian Brits Fred Wright and Hugo Houle also participated, finishing second and third in the end. Much to the joy of the breakaway, Area presented itself in disagreement for a long time and finally let them do it.
Geschke’s strategy works
Cofidis driver Geschke was not required to appear in the small mountain classifications of the day. “I still have some points, let’s see how long they last,” he said before the stage, after maintaining his leading position in the high mountains with a lot of fighting spirit and little luck. In the end he was happy with the German record.
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