Dhe Austrian professional cyclist Patrick Konrad brought the German team Bora-hansgrohe the second stage win on the third stage of the Pyrenees of the 108th Tour de France. The 29-year-old celebrated his first stage win on the Great Loop after an uncomfortable 169 km in Saint-Gaudens in strong gusts of wind and heavy rain. Konrad made the decisive attack on the penultimate climb out of a group of three. At the finish he was 42 seconds ahead of the Italian Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious).
Konrad, team-mate of former Tour fourth Emanuel Buchmann, signed the Austrian cycling history books on Tuesday in the cloud-covered Pyrenees. Exactly 90 years ago to the day, his compatriot Max Bulla had won the 12th stage of the Grand Boucle. After Georg Totschnig (2005), Konrad is the third Austrian to achieve a daily success. Konrad had already finished second in Quillan on the first stage of the Pyrenees on Saturday.
“I won a stage, I’m really speechless. This victory is for my family, friends and everyone who believed in me. That makes me really proud, ”said Konrad. “It was time to celebrate. I am super happy and I can now fully enjoy this moment. ”His brother-in-law told him beforehand that“ the hard-working will reap happiness ”.
Mo. – Fr. at 4 pm; Sa. – So. at 6 p.m.
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Nils Politt from Cologne gave Bora-hansgrohe its first victory on the twelfth stage last Thursday in Nîmes and celebrated the greatest success of his career. Bora manager Ralph Denk from the German top team Bora-hansgrohe had already drawn a positive interim conclusion on the second day of rest and was even more pleased on Tuesday. “Satisfaction predominates,” Denk told SID.
At the beginning Kasper Asgreen used the almost 40 km long descent down from the Principality of Andorra to separate himself. On the first ascent up to the Col de Port (2nd category), the Danish time trial champion found only short-term support in the former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski and the Italian Mattia Cattaneo. The trio was quickly caught up on the descent.
The escape group of the day crystallized on the climb up to the highlight of the day, the Col de la Core (1395 m / 1st category). Up to the summit, the three-man group had a lead of almost seven minutes on the main field. As on the first two stages of the Pyrenees, the German drivers played no role.
On the penultimate mountain, the Col de Portet-d’Aspet, Konrad surprised his opponents Jan Bakelants and Fabien Doubey with his ascent almost three kilometers before the summit. As a result, a group of nine drivers formed, whose pressure Konrad withstood. Bora sports director Enrico Poitschke had a good feeling about ten kilometers from the finish. “Patrick has great chances and is driving a great race,” said Poitschke on ARD.
The field of drivers will be really challenged on Wednesday on the 17th section. Defending champion Tadej Pogacar had already identified the royal stage as the greatest threat to his renewed triumph. The 178.4 km long section in the Pyrenees will demand everything from him. After rolling in around 120 km, the three difficult mountains Col de Peyresourde, Col de Val Louron-Azet (both 1st category) and the mountain arrival Col du Portet (HC) are on the agenda. The latter is a 16 km long ascent with a mean gradient of almost nine percent.
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