Tom Dumoulin enjoyed the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday. The Jumbo-Visma rider saw his teammate Primoz Roglic take time on his main competitor Tadej Pogacar and was delighted to ride the final climb Col de la Loze.
Tom Dumoulin enjoyed the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday. The rider of Jumbo-Visma saw his teammate Primoz Roglic take time on his main competitor Tadej Pogacar and was delighted to ride the final climb Col de la Loze.
“I like these kind of cols. I really like it. It’s a special thing, with a beautiful view”, said Dumoulin after finishing tenth at 2,304 meters.
“I’m not in top form at the moment, I’m not competing for the win. And maybe with my weight this is never a good finish to grab time. But I thought it was fantastic, I think this kind of climbing can be in the Tour. Ha, not every day, once is enough. ”
The Col de la Loze was first included in the Tour. The last 7 kilometers, above the ski village of Méribel, has only been paved since last year and has a very irregular profile with gradients ranging from 0 to 24 percent.
As expected, there was a big battle between the classification riders on that part. Dumoulin had to release 4 kilometers from the line, after which Colombian Miguel Ángel López soloed to the stage victory. Roglic finished second in fifteen seconds and he took seventeen seconds on Pogacar, who finished third.
“This was a very good day for us, perfect actually,” said Dumoulin. “Primoz takes a bit of time on Pogacar and as a team we had everything under control. Only at the end it was a fight between the leaders, but this climb is very fair.”
Primoz Roglic fights his way up the Col de la Loze. (Photo: Pro Shots)
’57 seconds is not enough ‘
Roglic now has a 57-second lead over Pogacar in the standings, while López rose to third place, 1 minute and 26 seconds behind. The rest is already more than three minutes.
Another tough stage in the Alps will follow on Thursday, after which the classification will be final on Saturday in the time trial to Planche des Belles Filles.
Dumoulin does not want to say that Roglic has already decided the Tour. “With tomorrow’s stage still on the schedule, 57 seconds on Pogacar is not enough to be sure. But we are glad we took the time today.”
“Primoz was not so good today that he said he wanted to drive full for the stage victory, as he did a few times at the start of the Tour”, said Dumoulin, who himself is still ninth in the standings. “But he stayed focused and then he just turns out to be one of the best again.”
