American eagle Adrien Costa was swooping on him in the mountains and the gap was inexorably decreasing: 50 seconds, 40 seconds and now 30 with still five kilometers to go. But Nick Schultz, never panicked during stage 7 at the Tour de l'Avenir.
The Australian all-rounder, the last man of an early breakaway, did what he usually does: giving all his best on a bike, finding out the ultimate ressources within his body. "I didn't want to look behind me, so I only realised I had won when I went 200 meters from the finish line," Schultz said.
Suddenly Costa went a bit tired himself and the advantage raised again up to 40 seconds. For once the mouse succeeded in the cat-and-mouse game, Friday, in the penultimate stage of the Tour de l'Avenir to the ski resort of Valmeinier, Savoy.
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Schultz, nearly 22 years old, took in style through the French Alps the major victory of his career. He has already captured a stage of the Tour de Bretagne and a second rank overall at the Oberösterreich Rundfahrt, 7th at the Ronde de l'Isard and 10th at the Ronde de l'Oise, all UCI events, earlier this season.
"I am a battler on a bike," Schultz told Cyclingnews after his victory. “This is certainly because I have never been the best at my age. I had to work very hard and do my own things. All my cyclist's life has been a matter of fighting.”
It's true Schultz didn't go through the classical Australian system with the Under-23 Academy. Although he was crowned national champion in the points race and teampursuit as a Junior he was denied to join the “Cyclons” squad and, as a result, he decided to try his own luck in Europe.
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