Jens attacks on stage 1 to take the polka dot jersey! - By Jens Voigt
Jens takes the Tour de France polka-dot jersey for the first time since 1998.
(Photo by James Startt)
Well that’s a heck of a way to start of my 17th Tour de France! It’s one thing to get in a breakaway, but it is something else to come away with something to show for it, and winning the polka-dot jersey for the best climber category sure is better than a kick in the teeth!
Okay, so already this morning we talked about covering the early breakaways and I could tell from the get-go that there just wasn’t much room on these narrow roads for people to be at the front and attack, so I just sat on the front of the pack, almost touching the race director’s red car, and waited for the first attack to go.
I could just kind of smell that it would have a chance. And sure enough I heard my teammate Fabian Cancellara over race radio saying, “There are three guys up the road and Jens is in it. And it is going away!”
But pretty early on I realiSed that there just wasn’t much chance of staying away. I mean this day was made for the sprinters, with only a couple of moderate climbs, and the sprint teams were just going to do everything possible to keep it together at the finish.
As a result we never had more than five minutes it seemed, nowhere near enough to stay away, so then I started thinking, “Okay what else can I do today? Hey why not go for the mountain jersey!” And so I did!
Now I got really dusted in an early sprint by my two other breakaway companions, so I knew I had to come up with a Plan B. I mean at 42 I just don’t have the punch or the sprint that I did five years ago. But I can go really hard for a long time and whatever makes it hard for others is good for me. That is not to say that I don’t suffer too. No, I actually often feel like I am coming out the other end of a meat grinder, but I can do it.
So I just surprised them by jumping early before a sprint and then I just kept going. I reckon the others thought I would sit up, but I didn’t. At first they kept me at like eight seconds, but finally they just gave up and off I went.
And what a great way to see Yorkshire, alone in a solo breakaway! These people were just so incredible!
But even though I was having a great time out there, the pack was just too nervous to let me go and so then I just focused on getting the jersey, which I did.
It’s funny: In my first Tour de France back in 1998 I spent all week chasing the polka-dot jersey. I eventually got it. But then I only kept it for a day. And unfortunately my friends, although I got the jersey this year on the first day, I think I will only be able to keep it for a day because tomorrow there is a lot, I mean, a lot of climbing!
Okay maybe, just maybe I can get in an early break again. But right now I’m pretty tired. So you better ask me how I feel tomorrow!
Read all of Jens’ blogs
Now in his 16th year as a professional, Jens Voigt has earned a reputation as one of the sport’s hard men, both among fans and his fellow riders. And the only thing Jens likes as much as riding his bike is talking about it. And that’s good for us.
via Bicycling » Tour de France http://ift.tt/1vMAqM0
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