Pello Bilbao took his first career Tour de France stage win from a breakaway in Issoire and dedicated the victory to his late team-mate Gino Mader.
Bilbao beat Georg Zimmermann to the line as six riders made it to the finish to contest the stage win, sparking emotional scenes as he and his Bahrain Victorious team remembered Mader, who died aged 26 following a high-speed crash at the Tour de Suisse last month.
The main peloton came to the line a little under three minutes later with Jonas Vingegaard retaining the yellow jersey and his 17-second advantage over Tadej Pogacar, but Bilbao’s win saw him move up to fifth overall.
Following Mader’s death, Bilbao had pledged to replicate the Swiss rider’s charitable gesture – donating one euro to environmental causes for every rider he finishes ahead of on each stage, also promising to double the donation if he won the stage.
And in his podium interview, the Basque rider said the memory of Mader was “the only reason” for his win.
He said: “It was hard to prepare the last two weeks with him in mind, but staying with my family at home helped me a lot, just to keep calm, be positive and put all my positive energy to try to do something nice in the Tour.
“I wanted to do it in the first Basque stages, that was so special for me but it was not possible so I just waited for my moment. I was maybe thinking my position in the overall was going to be a problem but I decided to make an all-in move and in the end it was the right movement.
“My first victory in the Tour in 13 years as a pro is such a special moment for me.”
The 167km stage from Vulcania through the Massif Central looked custom-designed for a breakaway, but things were never so simple on a day when the attacks raged from the start to the finish.
Vingegaard and Pogacar were both involved in some of the early moves, splitting the main peloton, before 14 riders eventually got away.
But it was only occasionally a cohesive group. Krists Neilands launched an attack at the foot of the final climb and crested it with an advantage of 30 seconds, but that tumbled on the descent towards town and he was caught by a chasing group of five with three kilometres left.
Bilbao felt confident he was the fastest and let Zimmerman move to the front before launching his sprint with a couple of hundred metres left.
“With cold blood I let Zimmermann make his sprint and I went on the wheel, then it was just full gas for the last 200 metres thinking of nothing,” he said.
“I crossed the line and I just put out all the energy inside of me and remembered the reason for this victory, a special one – for Gino.”
Llori Sharpe claims historic gold for Jamaica at the 2024 Elite Caribbean Cycling Championships
Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) donates JMD$1 million to Jamaica Cycling Federation for equipment upgrade
The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) has made a significant contribution to the development of cycling in Jamaica by donating JMD$1 million to the Jamaica Cycling Federation. The grant, aimed at boosting the sport’s progress, was used to purchase vital racing and training equipment, including state-of-the-art smart trainers.
The Jamaica Cycling Federation expressed its gratitude for the financial assistance, highlighting the importance of this investment in elevating the sport’s standards. Smart trainers have become increasingly popular in cycling programs worldwide due to their advanced capabilities, which are integral to modern training methods.
“These smart trainers are game changers,” said a spokesperson for the Federation. “They allow riders and coaches to approach training in a more scientific manner, offering features like measuring and tracking energy output, simulating race routes, and even enabling coaches to remotely access training data.”
This technological upgrade not only enhances training efficiency but also opens up new possibilities for coaches to closely monitor and optimize athletes' performance. The equipment's ability to simulate real-world racing conditions and provide accurate data on rider performance will help Jamaica’s cyclists prepare for international competition with cutting-edge tools.
The JOA's donation represents its ongoing commitment to supporting the development of underrepresented sports in Jamaica. “This contribution from the JOA is truly appreciated and confirms the continued support for the growth and development of sports like cycling,” the Federation said.
The equipment is expected to help Jamaica’s cyclists better prepare for regional and international competitions, as the nation continues to push for excellence across various sporting disciplines.
Dream on: Paul urges young T&T cyclists to keep pushing for Olympic feat as 2028 LA Games in sight
While looking ahead to possibly making another Olympic Games appearance in 2028 in Los Angeles, Trinidad and Tobago’s cycling stalwart, Nicholas Paul, is also hopeful that he will be able to share that occasion with a few more riders from the twin island republic.
Well aware of the depth of the talent that Trinidad and Tobago possesses, Paul, who relished a second-consecutive Olympic Games appearance at the just-concluded Paris showpiece, believes it is very much possible for those cyclists to also achieve their dreams of competing at the global multi-sport event.
The decorated Paul, who has numerous championship medals under his belt, and Kwesi Browne represented Trinidad and Tobago with much gusto and pride in Paris, as they gave their all on the track in both the sprint and keirin events, though both failed to make the finals.
“Team sprint, sprint, Keirin, team pursuit, I just want as many cyclists as possible to be able to make it on the Olympic stage,” Paul told the Express.
“It’s a big, big, big pool of talented young cyclists coming up. I have been trying to be a good role model for them, to let them know that they can come out here because the dream is possible. You just have to work hard. We can make a good driving force from juniors straight up to the elite,” he added.
Having contested both the Sprint and Keirin quarterfinals in Paris, Paul expressed an even deeper desire to improve his standards going forward, especially after watching Australian Matthew Richardson and Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen erase his previous world record of 9.100 in the flying 200 metres.
Lavreysen stopped the clock at 9.088 seconds, mere minutes after Richardson clocked 9.091 seconds.
“It (the quarterfinals) was not the outcome I wanted, but you live, you learn, and you come again. But I’m happy for Harrie. That was a great ride, and at the same time, it’s giving me more hunger to get back on that length to be able to break the world record and get that fast again,” Paul noted.
However, for now, the 25-year-old pointed out that the focus is on rest and recovery ahead of his next major assignment, the UCI Track World Championships scheduled for October 16-20 in Denmark.
“I think I’ll back off a bit, have a bit of a rest, and then go into Worlds. I’m really hungry, but at the same time, the build was until Paris. It was a bit stressful, so I have to ease off and then go into Worlds with as much form as possible,” Paul said.
On that note, Paul also expressed gratitude for the support from Trinidad and Tobago’s sporting enthusiasts, though some comments were not welcoming of the athletes’ overall efforts in Paris.
“I never think about the negatives because we could only work with the positives, and we have a lot of positives to work with. Moving forward, us athletes should come together and try to make Trinidad and Tobago better as a whole. Athletics, cycling, and every sport; to raise the level not only in Trinidad and Tobago, but in the Caribbean,” he ended.
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