The first stage in the Pyrenees offered plenty of opportunities to attack today and as a result plenty of teams had an attacking strategy in mind. BORA – hansgrohe was active right from the start, and when a big group of 36 riders formed at the front, Jai Hindley, Emanuel Buchmann and Patrick Konrad were part of the day’s break. At one point a trio tried to distance themselves from the rest, but due to the hard work of Patrick, the race came back together at the front on the Col de Soudet. When F. Gall attacked on the final climb of the day only Jai was able to follow, with Emu sitting in the first chasing group while the bunch was around three minutes behind. Only 2km from the top of the climb Jai went solo, in the bunch J. Vingegaard dropped everybody and was able to bridge across to the first chasing group with Emu, which also caught Gall on the last decent. Jai Hindley instead finished off a perfect BORA – hansgrohe teamwork in style and took a solo victory, his first ever Tour de France stage win. With this superior ride, Jai also took the overall race lead and will start tomorrow’s stage with the famous Yellow Jersey on his shoulders.
Results
01 J. Hindley 3:57:07
02 G. Ciccone +0:32
03 F. Gall +0:32
04 E. Buchmann +0:32
From the finish line
“I have no words; I cannot believe what happened. I was surprised when I was part of the break, and the bunch didn’t really react. We decided to start working in the group and just have fun. Initially my idea was to just get a buffer to the other GC guys. On the Soudet I started thinking about a stage win, at the bottom of the climb I also saw my parents which was really special and emotional. When I attacked, everything went so fast, I knew I had a good chance, but I only started really believing on the home straight. It still feels surreal to have that jersey on my shoulders.” – Jai Hindley
“Well, we wanted to ride offensively today and our plan was to have Koni and Emu in a bigger break. But to have Jai up there just happened. He was riding in a good position and at some point, he was up there. It was a confusing situation because there was no real cooperation at the front, but also the bunch didn’t chase. The game changer today for us was to have Koni up there. He was key to success and did an amazing job. Of course, also Emu was important, and Jai had the legs in the end, but without Koni the race would have been different. I have no idea what will happen tomorrow after this amazing battle today. But to be honest, I don’t care for just now. We just will enjoy that moment today and I want to thank the whole team, also staff, for all the effort and commitment. We can be proud of what we achieved today. It’s always special to get the Yellow Jersey and without the team behind Jai this wouldn’t have been possible.” – Rolf Aldag, Sports Director