Tour de France: Aussie rider’s tears of joy after dramatic stage win

Australian biking veteran Simon Clarke has etched his title within the document books after incomes an impressive, last-ditch Tour de France triumph to crown his lengthy profession after a brutal, crash-strewn cobbled stage.

Clarke was unable to include his feelings as he crossed the road after profitable a lung-busting dash on Wednesday, finishing a life-long dream of clinching a stage of the well-known Tour.

His victory makes him the oldest Australian to win a stage of the Tour, at 35 years and 355 days of age, whereas he slots in at twenty first within the all-time rankings.  

Australian biking veteran Simon Clarke broke down in tears after profitable his first Tour stage

But whereas the 35-year-old Israel-Premier Tech rider was left in floods of joyous tears, it proved a calamitous day for the lads alleged to be Australia’s greatest hitters on the Tour.

Jack Haig, chief of the Bahrain Victorious workforce, needed to abandon the race after a crash whereas AG2R Citroen’s Ben O’Connor, Australia’s high hope to win the title this yr, had a disastrous day, ending greater than three minutes down on race favorite, champion Tadej Pogacar.

And there was extra Grand Tour distress for Australian star sprinter Caleb Ewan, who took a nasty tumble when operating headlong right into a protecting hay bale which had come unfastened on the facet of the street with 30km left.

Clarke’s career-defining triumph got here after a chaotic 157km journey from Lille to Arenberg, a tricky stage that includes greater than 19km of cobbled sectors which had been anticipated to trigger havoc – and positively lived as much as its billing.

Belgian Wout van Aert got here residence unscathed to retain the general lead, nevertheless it was an enormous day for two-time defending champion Pogacar, who gained time over all his rivals together with an enormous chunk over his Slovenian good friend and rival, Primoz Roglic.

The 35-year-old sealed a dramatic Tour de France stage victory in Willers on Wednesday

Clarke was unable to include his feelings after realising a 20-year dream to win a stage

Roglic, one of the pre-race favourites, additionally suffered within the incident that floored Ewan, and ended up shedding greater than two minutes to his countryman.

But it was the best day of Clarke’s 13-year professional profession after the Melburnian, whose earlier profession highlights had been profitable two phases on the Vuelta a Espana and being half of a workforce time trial win within the 2013 Tour, pulled out all of the stops to win by a hair’s breadth.

Sprinting out of the remnants of an early breakaway, the Australian timed his ultimate fling completely, edging out Dutchman Taco van der Hoorn with a ‘bike throw’ for the victory after greater than three-and-a-quarter hours within the saddle.

Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen was third, two seconds down.