2023-07-11 20:28:13
After the first day of rest in the Tour de France, the riders struggle through the biting heat in the Massif Central. Georg Zimmermann defies the conditions and narrowly misses the day’s victory.
Issoire.
After the initial frustration, Georg Zimmermann regained some courage. “My goal is to win a tour stage in my career. If it’s only ten years away, then that’s okay as long as it works,” said Zimmermann, smiling slightly at second place.
In the thrilling finale of the tenth stage of the Tour de France, the German professional cyclist only had to admit defeat to the Spaniard Pello Bilbao in a breakaway group.
A little hubris ultimately cost Zimmermann the greatest success of his career. “I took a step that was too thick, maybe that was a mistake,” said the 25-year-old. “You can’t miss a chance at the Tour de France because it’s super difficult to get a chance to win something.”
Winner Bilbao praised Zimmermann
In the heat battle in the central massif, the man from Augsburg missed the day’s victory by a few meters. “The disappointment of having missed the biggest goal of my career is currently greater than the joy of second place,” said Zimmermann at the finish in Issoire.
With temperatures of up to 43 degrees and a bumpy route with more than 3000 meters of altitude difference, the Australian Ben O’Connor took third place. “I knew Bilbao was fast, I lost a sprint against them in Stuttgart before,” he added. The heat-resistant Bavarian launched an attack just under a kilometer from the finish, but was overtaken by Bilbao.
The winner praised the German’s attack. “I waited for the right moment until everyone was at their limit,” said the 33-year-old from Team Bahrain-Victorious. He dedicated his success to his former teammate Gino Mäder, who recently died after a serious fall at the Tour de Suisse.
After his sensational stage win at the Critérium du Dauphiné in early June, Zimmermann, who is taking part in the Tour of France for the third time, achieved his best-ever tour placement. In 2022 he was also sixth on the tenth stage.
Vingegaard and Pogacar continue to duel
The Dane Jonas Vingegaard did not lose any time in the general classification. Last year’s winner had lost eight seconds to Tadej Pogacar in the previous stage. The advantage over the Slovenes before the tenth stage was only 17 seconds. Bora captain Jai Hindley remained third behind Vingegaard with 2:40 minutes, the German champion Emanuel Buchmann is still 13th in the overall ranking.
After the ascent to the legendary Puy de Dôme volcano on Sunday and the first day of rest, the professional cyclists remained loyal to the Feuerberge. On the bumpy track, the top drivers Vingegaard and Pogacar didn’t take a breather from the start and after a few kilometers they were chasing a breakaway group.
The peloton later splintered into several small groups. Zimmermann attacked 131 kilometers from the finish and joined a seven-man lead group. Despite the biting heat, he still seemed fresh and powerful over the last few kilometers, but the exhausting day gnawed at him at the finish line. Severe storms were feared before the race, but did not materialize until the end of the stage. Fire engines drove across the track instead, refreshing the fans with water.
On Wednesday, the sprinters should have a good chance on the eleventh stage. After a hilly start on the 179.8 kilometers between Clermont-Ferrand and Moulins, it becomes much flatter towards the finish. Phil Bauhaus, after his second place in stage three and third place a day later, will launch his next attack on a stage win. (dpa)
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