Tour de France - Emanuel Buchmann: There are more years to come
Jul 28 2019 05:09 am CET
Photo of Emanuel Buchmann (c)Bora-hansgrohe / VeloImages
Bora-hansgrohe's Emanuel Buchmann confirmed his fourth overall position in the Tour de France after the 20th stage of the race.
At the end of the chaotic 19th stage of the French grand tour, the German rider was in the fifth overall position. In the short 20th stage, he remained at all times with the favourites and was guided and protected by his teammate Gregor Mühlberger.
With Julian Alaphilippe dropping quickly during the ascent, all the overall positions moved up one place, which left Buchmann in the fourth overall position -the best result in a grand tour for the rider and his team. The rider tried until the last moment to win time over Steven Kruijswijk and get into a podium position, but it was an impossible task.
"Today's stage might have been shortened but it was still very challenging," he said after the finish line. "The last climb was really long and the pace was strong from the bottom. There were a few flatter sections in between where you could recover a bit but it was very demanding, mentally. After three weeks of racing, you needed to try and stay focused and keep on pushing.
"The cushion I had to the riders behind me in the GC was big enough to allow me to try. Unfortunately, I didn't have the best legs today, so my attempt didn't really succeed. Obviously, I'm overly happy with this fourth place, a great achievement compared to my initial goal of the top ten. I wasn't too far from the podium but Kruijswijk and Thomas were simply stronger and I think this is the best I could have achieved this year, but there are more years to come."
Tour de France - Emanuel Buchmann: There are more years to come https://t.co/FbYTdsWNX9 |@BORAhansgrohe @EmuBuchmann#TDF2019
— CyclingPub (@CyclingPub) July 27, 2019
?© BORA - hansgrohe / Bettiniphoto pic.twitter.com/0sVWTAgG45
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