"Arm-wrestling with the peloton" and "perfect Tour de France preparation": Küng and Co push sprinters to the limit

In addition to the three mentioned, former race leader Romain Gregoire was also part of the breakaway. The French puncheur sacrificed himself for his teammate Küng and had to drop from the group after a final effort in the closing phase. The remaining trio really put the pressure on the peloton, but in the end, the sprinters’ teams, who needed to seize their opportunity on this stage, came out on top.

After the stage, Küng gave an in-depth reflection to Cycling Pro Net. “It was another really tough stage,” said the Groupama-FDJ rider, reflecting on what has already been a very grueling race. “We were racing in my home region. And if the race hadn’t passed through here, I wouldn’t have joined the breakaway. My legs were hurting from the start. It might sound strange, but I actually managed to find some rhythm during the stage. Towards the end, it really felt like I could keep going.”

“We were with a strong group and worked really well together,” Küng reflects on a positive experience in the breakaway. “We didn’t need words, everyone just went as hard as they could. It was just so tough. It was a real arm-wrestling match between the breakaway and the peloton,” the time trial specialist aptly describes. “What can you do? We lost the battle, even though it was really close.”

Küng knew from the start that it was going to be a tough task. “Today was the only real chance for the sprinters, you could already tell at the start that multiple teams were interested in a bunch sprint.” Behind the leading quartet, other riders still tried to bridge across. Bart Lemmen and Thomas Gloag of Visma | Lease a Bike, for example, made attempts to close the gap.

According to Küng, waiting for reinforcements up front wasn’t an option. “We heard about the action behind us, and if they’d had a real gap, we might’ve waited. But you don’t wait when they only have a minute on the peloton and we’ve got a minute and a half on them. You just have to keep riding.”

“It was a tough stage and there was no chance to recover,” continues Küng. “And on these rolling roads, which I know well, it’s easier to ride in the peloton than at the front. A peloton just carries much more speed. Either way, as long as you still have something left in your legs, you give it everything.”

So Küng was in the breakaway alongside his teammate Gregoire. “That wasn’t exactly part of the plan,” Küng laughs. “The idea was to get me into the break. Once we were out front, I even told Romain, ‘If you’re tired from all the work, you can just drop back to the peloton.’ But he said, ‘No, I’ll keep going as long as I can.’ He still took some strong turns before dropping off. It shows what he’s made of. He’s a great guy and always gives one hundred percent,” Küng concluded, full of praise for his young teammate.

Dan Sweeny, the Australian, also took a moment to speak with Cycling Pro Net. “The plan was to be in the break,” said the cheerful Aussie. “It would’ve been nice to make it all the way to the finish, but we were caught with just a kilometer to go…”

“It wasn’t the plan to get away with just four of us,” the EF Education–EasyPost rider continued. “The group that was catching us on the first climb was strong, but if we had waited for them, I think the peloton would’ve come back too,” echoing Küng’s point of view. “It was hard to predict, but in the end we gave it our best shot.”

Sweeny found himself in strong company with Küng, Gregoire, and Schmid. “The last time I was in a break with Küng was a few years ago at the Tour,” he recalled. “Today was an incredibly tough day, 5,000 calories burned in just over four hours. A perfect day of preparation for the Tour,” Sweeny concluded with a grin.

Jayco AlUla shared a brief reaction from Schmid via X . "It was a good day in the breakaway, but also very tough: a fight to the finish. Unfortunately we were just not strong enough; we were caught in the last kilometers. Nevertheless, it was a nice stage, up front with a great group."