His childish, hilarious face and his mimicry with his elder on the line, whom he pulled all the way to Rimini, had the taste of victory but, a few moments after sharing this success alongside Romain Bardet, Frank Van den Broek remained dazed: “Maybe in a few hours I’ll realize it, but right now it’s incredible.” The DSM-firmenich PostNL rider took to the plate for the Auvergne, who did not fail to salute his dedication by pointing at him once he crossed the line.
The 23-year-old Dutchman finished second in the stage but he did not leave the Italian seaside town empty-handed either, donning the green jersey as well as the white tunic of the best young person and, having spent almost 200 km at the front positions, also winning the prize for combativeness. By taking the breakaway, he responded perfectly to his team’s plan, getting up to play relays 50 km from the finish when Bardet went on the counterattack.
“I am dead, my legs are empty
Valentin Madouas having given up, the two teammates headed towards Rimini for a mini team time trial which rinsed Van den Broek, “really on the limit but I thought it could do it. I was still surprised by my pace. Then, Romain helped me get over the last hill. The end was very hard, it burned. It’s crazy that we got there! I’m dead, my legs are completely empty. » According to him, caught up in the excitement of taking part in his first Tour and the anxiety of not being up to it, they were not valiant at the start in Florence and the winner of the last Tour of Turkey did not feel ” not good “. On the Italian hollow roads, this was not seen.
