Phil Bauhaus has no luck in the French summer heat. Instead of winning, he ends up in second place behind a Belgian.
Last chance missed: Phil Bauhaus came away empty-handed in the final sprint of the 111th Tour de France and had to settle for second place at the end of the heat battle along the Mediterranean. In temperatures of 35 degrees, only stage winner Jasper Philipsen from Belgium was faster than the 30-year-old in Nîmes. Pascal Ackermann, who had previously finished third three times, sprinted to sixth place and can be satisfied with his first Tour participation.
“I’m fine and I’m happy. There was simply nothing I could do against Philipsen,” said Bauhaus. The Bocholt rider achieved his best result in this year’s Tour, but was still a long way from victory. The Eritrean Biniam Girmay, wearer of the green jersey, was unable to take part in the sprint due to a fall in the final and was escorted to the finish line injured by teammates.
There will be no further chance for a sprint due to the Olympic Games. Instead of heading north towards Paris, the peloton will travel through the Alps to Nice. The world’s most important race will end there on Sunday with an individual time trial – for the first time since 1989.
As expected, there were no changes among the top riders in the overall ranking. Tadej Pogacar defended his yellow jersey effortlessly and is 3:09 minutes ahead of defending champion Jonas Vingegaard. Time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel is 5:19 minutes behind in third place.
Politt once won in Nîmes
The German riders had fond memories of Nîmes at the start. Three years ago, Nils Politt triumphed in the southern French city. However, the route was completely different back then. This year there were no topographical challenges, and from the start it was expected to be a mass sprint.
The enormous heat and the expected result prevented breakaway riders from trying their luck. The peloton also did not let itself get stressed and stayed below the slowest expected average for a long time. It was only when the Frenchman Thomas Gachignard attacked around 92 kilometers from the finish that the race accelerated somewhat. Ultimately, the 23-year-old’s attempt was doomed to failure, and 25 kilometers from Nîmes the sprinter teams took over command.
Fifth Corona case
Star sprinter Mark Cavendish had to go into the final without his lead-out rider Michael Mørkøv. The Dane was the first professional to leave the Tour last week because of a positive corona test. On Tuesday there was officially the fifth case, with Belgian Maxim Van Gils giving up.
Before him, the Tour had already ended for the Spaniard Juan Ayuso and the Briton Thomas Pidcock. Pidcock’s teammate and former winner Geraint Thomas also tested positive, but decided to stay because his symptoms were barely noticeable. Corona tests are no longer required by the Tour organization. Cavendish had claimed in an interview that he knew of several riders who were still in the race despite being infected with Corona.
Source: Stern
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