Tour de France - Fugitive's Day: Zimmermann's Stage Race Dream bursts
Georg Zimmermann fought fiercely with a swaying upper body, but once again, his dream of a stage win at the Tour de France was not realized. The Augsburg native was among the prominent professionals on the 18th stage but had to settle for 23rd place at the end of the day. The Belgian Victor Campenaerts secured the victory in Barcelonnette.
"Today's race was a bit of a struggle for me. I was really good. I invested a little too much about one or two kilometers before the summit of the last mountain," Zimmermann said to ARD.
A group of nearly 40 riders had formed about an hour after the start in Gap. With five smaller mountain classifications, the stage was made for a large breakaway. Zimmermann was always alert and among the most active riders. Around 60 kilometers from the finish, the Bavarian himself launched an attack when the group was torn apart due to strong crosswinds.
The previous year, Zimmermann had come close to his major career goal of a Tour stage win. On the tenth section, he had to yield to the Spaniard Pello Bilbao. A year later, he missed the decisive attack about 40 kilometers from the finish.
Geschke's good memories
It was clear before the two tough Alps tests that there would be a day for breakaways. However, it took almost the entire first hour of racing to find a group. There were constant attacks and counterattacks.
In one of the formed groups was also Simon Geschke. The Berliner has good memories of the area around the finish town Barcelonnette. Practically in sight - up in the Pra-Loup ski resort - the veteran won as a solo rider a mountain finish of the Tour in 2015. To this day, it is the highlight of the climber specialist, who ended his career at the end of the year.
However, the Geschke group could not pull away decisively. When the day's breakaways formed during the next attack, Geschke was no longer there. Instead, it was the Augsburg native Georg Zimmermann, of whom the six German riders had the best chances beforehand.
The roof of the Tour is waiting
Friday was a challenge for the sprinters above all, to finish within the time limit. The course leads over the 2802-meter-high Cime de la Bonnette and thus over the highest point ever reached in the Tour. It is the second highest asphalted road in the Alps after the Ötztaler Gletscherstraße in Austria. The almost 23-kilometer-long ascent is the second of three major climbs, all of which are over 2000 meters high.
If Jonas Vingegaard has any real hopes of the overall victory, he must attack Tadej Pogacar at the Cime de la Bonnette. Alone on the final climb to Isola 2000, the Dane will not be able to make up the more than three-minute deficit.
After a grueling race, Simon Geschke reflected on his past successes in Barcelonnette, where he secured an Etappen Sieg as a solo rider during the Tour de France in 2015. Despite forming a group with good chances beforehand, Geschke was not able to break away decisively, with Georg Zimmermann ultimately leading the day's breakaways. In the context of the Tour de France, Zimmermann's attack on a particularly tricky stage was reminiscent of the challenges faced by riders in the Alps, a region known for its steep terrain and challenging cycling conditions. ARD, a German broadcaster, provided coverage of Zimmermann's performance, highlighting the intense competition and determination of riders like him to achieve an Etappen Sieg in the prestigious Tour de France.
