“It was a big challenge to reach the finish of the Tour de France!” Neiland shares his impressions

It was a big challenge for Krist Neiland and the other cyclists to reach the finish line of the prestigious multi-day cycling race “Tour de France”, the Latvian sportsman admitted in a conversation with LETA agency.

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Neyland completed his second career Tour de France on Sunday. Overall, the Kuldīdz resident was in 79th place among 135 cyclists who reached the Champs-Élysées. This year’s Tour de France was full of various trials – cases of Covid-19 among cyclists, falls, tough climbs, hot weather and crosswinds.

“It feels good to have made it to Paris and finished. Given the circumstances, it was a big challenge. The track and the terrain were tough, it was also very hot. We also successfully managed to avoid the cases of Covid-19,” said Neiland, who fell in the second stage in Denmark. “I had problems with my ribs for a couple of days, but after a week the pain was gone.”

During the tour, the thermometer reached 40 degrees Celsius and various solutions were needed to cool down. One of them is to put ice in tights and put it behind the collar in the back.

“Our team has our own heat protocols that we follow. For example, before the start, we take a cold shower, drink a mixture with ice and hydro-tablets, which prevent water loss in the body. The key is to cool down as much as possible. Even after the finish, we sit in an ice bath. Also, during the competition, a large service staff is needed, who can stand on the side of the track and serve cooling drinks,” said Neiland, representing the “Israel – Premier Tech” team.

“This is not the first race with this heat, so it is nothing new. The organism already understands what is happening and adapts. Even before the tour, the competition was in hot conditions and the body adapted, so it wasn’t as crazy as it looked from the outside,” explained the 27-year-old Latvian cyclist.

176 cyclists started the Tour of France, but of the 41 athletes who did not finish, a little less than half, or 18, finished the competition due to positive Covid-19 tests. The official Covid-19 tests of the organizers were only during the competition holidays and before the start of the tour, but the tests were also carried out under increased supervision of the teams.

“In the second part of the competition, I also had minor symptoms – my throat hurt a little and I had a runny nose, most likely because the air conditioner was rotten. For safety reasons, I had to test almost every day to avoid the risk of sticking a teammate,” said Neyland.

The “Israel – Premier Tech” team finished the cycling race with three of the eight cyclists who started. Due to Covid-19, the Canadian Michael Woods was forced to withdraw before the last stage, but his compatriot and teammate Guillaume Boiva did not reach Paris due to another illness.

“It’s definitely painful for any rider, regardless of where you are in the overall standings. Everyone wants to reach Paris, but it’s like a holiday,” Neiland admitted. “As far as I can see, the Covid-19 security measures depended on each team. For example, there were teams whose representatives did not wear masks very often, but there were teams where these rules were strictly observed. We also tried to follow the rules, for example, we wore masks on the team bus and in other vehicles.”

The goal of the “Israel – Premier Tech” team was to fight for individual victories in the stages, not in the overall standings or in any of the individual competitions. It was successful in two stages, with Australian Simon Clarke and Canadian Hugo Ulé finishing first.

“In the first week, Jakob Fuglsang was cautious and tried not to lose time to see how the situation developed, because the tour could have turned out in any way. We tried to protect Jakob for the overall ranking, but after a week we realized that we can focus on individual stages. We won two stages, which is a good achievement for the team, in that sense we can say that the tour has been successful,” Neyland said.

The Latvian cyclist also participated in breakaways in some of the stages, despite obstacles and different leagues.

“Pash had opportunities after the first week, but had to go through his problems. After the first week, the usual back problems started to appear. After getting better, I got a little cold. I had to finish the tour on antibiotics and was forced to survive until Paris,” Neyland revealed.

The victory won in Ulé was especially emotional – the Canadian dedicated it to his brother Pierik, who died ten years ago after being hit by a drunk driver. Ule’s biggest successes so far were two Canadian championship titles in the individual race.

“It was an emotional victory not only for him, but also for the whole team. I am very glad that he was able to win such a victory. He deserved it,” Neiland noted.

The Danish cyclist Jonass Wingegord of the powerful “Jumo Visma” team, who is in good physical shape this season, won the tour overall.

“He proved himself before the tour, besides, he was already second overall last year. This proves his strength and that he is ready to fight for victory. He was superior to all. All three – Tadej Pogachar, Wingegord and Wout van Aart – drove at a completely different level and did not leave much hope for the others,” concluded Neiland.

The Latvian cyclist is recuperating in Kuldīga after the French tour and will have a break of less than three weeks between the next competitions.

“I will return on August 11 with a multi-day competition in Norway, after that there is a plan to go to the USA and Canada, where there will be a one-day competition. I will probably end the season in Italy,” the athlete outlined his immediate plans.

In two months, the world championship will take place in Australia and for now Latvia has one quota, which is intended to be used by Tom Skujiņš. Previously, the message that Latvian cyclists did not have the means to start in the championships and that participation would only be possible if the athlete himself provided it, caused a wide resonance.

“Of course it’s not fair. Cyclists ride to represent not only themselves, but also their country. If we don’t have the means to get there, it’s pretty sad. The existing funds are not enough to provide a full team, which includes not only cyclists, but also service personnel,” Neiland said.

For the last two years, the titled Briton Christopher Froome has been riding in the “Israel – Premier Tech” team, who has won the big tours seven times during his career – four times in the “Tour de France”, one in the “Giro d’Italia” and two in the “Vuelta a Espana”. The 37-year-old Briton is gradually trying to regain his form after the serious injuries sustained in 2019. His many days in France also ended prematurely due to Covid-19.

“Chris is a very experienced driver and the information he is able to give is very helpful in achieving the result. It’s a great pleasure to have the opportunity to be in the same team with such a driver,” noted Neiland, who has a contract with “Israel – Premier Tech” for the next season as well.

This season, Neiland won the seventh place in the overall rating of the multi-day race “Tour de Hongrie” (UCI cat. 2.1) and was third in the rating of the king of the mountains of the Romandy cycling race included in the UCI World Tour.

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