Tinkoff-Saxo’s Christopher Juul-Jensen came close yesterday to taking a win in the 141km second stage of the Route du Sud from Auch to Saint-Gaudens after launching a late attack. Although he was caught before the finish line, Juul-Jensen says that he’s pleased to have been given the chance by the team. He described afterwards how the stage went.
“It feels very nice to be able to race at the front again and race aggressively in the finale,” he said on the team’s website. “It’s a smaller race compared to the ones I took part in the last few weeks and this gives me the opportunity to try and see what I can get out of myself, when the opportunity arises.”
The Danish rider, who spent his first sixteen years in Ireland, had attacked with Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar) and Oliver Le Gac (FDJ) and with 4kms remaining, Juul-Jensen increased the pace, and was still clear going into the final kilometre. However, he was eventually passed by the remnants of the peloton. Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar) went on to win the stage ahead of Quentin Jauregui (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne-Séché Environnement).
Juul-Jensen went on to say, “Unfortunately, it would have been better if the two breakaways had held but you will never win if you never try. I’m happy to see I have digested the Giro quite well, I looked after myself back home and properly prepared for this race. I wanted to use this race to show I’m coming back into form and I’m very motivated to race.”
He added, “Today we had a hard finale. The Route du Sud is a good training for the riders that will go on to the Tour. It’s up and down all day and a good way to build your legs. In the finale, the riders in my group knew that our chances were getting thinner by the minute. I tried to attack towards the end but they were quickly coming from behind us. It was a tricky uphill finish and the final 500 meters were very hard. To have a realistic chance at winning we would have needed probably another 20 seconds of advantage in the final 2km
“I’m very thankful to the team and Alberto who allowed me to give it a shot if I felt I had the legs. I’m still on the hunt for my first stage win as a pro, so I appreciate it they gave me that opportunity. Tomorrow, I will be focused on giving my best for Alberto. We have to make sure he is well placed to have the best result possible and, hopefully, we will then have to defend on Sunday. I had my chance yesterday and today but on Saturday and Sunday, we will all work hard for Alberto”, added Juul-Jensen.
The Route du Sud heads into the high mountains on tomorrow’s stage to Bagneres-de-Luchon with Port de Balès as the main challenge. .
