Cycling: Very strong! Patrick Konrad won the 16th stage of the Tour de France. The Austrian champion was part of a breakaway and decided to go solo at the right moment.
Konrad was the strongest and the smartest
What a smash hit for Patrick Konrad! The Austrian champion was untamable on the 169,0 kilometer 16th stage of the Tour de France from El Pas de la Casa to Saint-Gaudens. Thanks to his clever driving style and his strong legs, the 29-year-old celebrates one day after the rest day and enables the German racing team Bora - hansgrohe to win the second stage of this year's Tour of France. After two Austrian championships, this success is undoubtedly the greatest in his career so far. And he earned it with two attacks at the right time. The Austrians had to wait 16 years for the next stage victory after Georg Totschnig was successful in 2005.
Two attacks, one target
As expected, no breakaway group formed for many kilometers today. Far too many drivers and teams wanted to jump into the escape group, as the chance of a successful escape on this section was considered to be particularly high. Finally we were able to join Jan Bakelants (Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux), Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies) and Christopher Juul Jensen (BikeExchange) broke away from the main field three riders and a slightly larger chasing group. When the two groups were less than a minute apart, he composed himself Patrick Conrad a heart and jumped forward to the top trio. Once there, the four – later only three – professionals harmonized splendidly. The chasing group came closer due to the numerical superiority. In a further climb, Patrick Konrad decided to attack again. From then on he was on the road as a soloist, while his former companions were swallowed up by the pursuers. They only got to see the Austrian champion again at the finish.
Colbrelli & Matthews continue to sprint for green
Still haven't given up Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain – Victorious) and Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) the fight for the green jersey. Although they are relatively well behind in the points classification Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) are behind. The Italian and the Australian were part of the chasing group. They fought a thrilling duel in both the intermediate sprint and the final sprint. While Matthews won the intermediate sprint, Colbrelli was one position ahead of him at the finish. Thus, the two hill-proof sprinters complete the podium of the day.
Van Aert suddenly turns serious for fun
Completely surprisingly, the last climb of the day also got down to business in terms of the overall ranking. When it appeared the favorites had agreed on a truce, suddenly left Simon Geschke (Cofidis) with his captain William Martin (Cofidis) on the offensive. Wout van aert (Jumbo – Visma) countered and promptly let the two stand. Realizing that there was a gap in the field behind him, he sat in front of his captain as a locomotive jonas vingegaard (Jumbo – Visma) and led the field of favourites, which had become smaller, to the finish. However, since all podium contenders were alert, the damage was limited.
🇦🇹 KAÇIŞTAN KAZANAN KONRAD!
🚴🏻 Patrick Konrad, kaçış grubundan üst üste yaptığı ataklarla 16. etabı kazandı.
📅 16 yıl aradan sonra ilk kez bir Avusturyalı Tour de France'ta etap kazandı.
🎥 (via @LeTour) #TDF2021pic.twitter.com/sjsmdPz7ss
— Deplase Dergi (@deeplase) July 13, 2021