Johannessen and Uijtdebroeks show they have Tour de France preparations under control

Tobias Halland Johannessen and Cian Uijtdebroeks were two surprising names in the top five of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes stage. Johannessen had not been among the very best earlier in the race and had also spent all day in the front group during stage 6. Uijtdebroeks, meanwhile, was also convincingly up there at the front on the Grand Colombier on Saturday.

Johannessen, as mentioned, did not start the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes particularly well, but when he got into the move during a bizarre stage on Friday, his second place on the day suddenly brought him back inside the top twelve. On Saturday, the legs were clearly turning very nicely again, allowing the 26-year-old Norwegian from Uno-X Mobility to climb another seven places overall.

“It was an insanely hard day, especially after one of the descents was neutralized. From that point on, it was attacks all day,” Johannessen said after the stage, in which he finished an impressive third, 38 seconds behind stage winner Isaac del Toro. “I tried to dose my energy in the chase. Del Toro was just too strong today."

That third place also said plenty about Johannessen’s form, with the Norwegian once again appearing to find his best legs at exactly the right moment. He managed the same last year, when he finished fifth in the Dauphiné before going on to place sixth at the Tour de France. “My legs are responding well now that the big races are coming up. That is important, and the team once again did a fantastic job.”

Uijtdebroeks also delivered an excellent performance on Saturday, finishing fifth at 41 seconds from Del Toro. The Belgian from Movistar rediscovered the legs that had gone missing a little in recent days. “Illness had been going around the team a bit, but today I really felt good again,” the 23-year-old climber said to, among others, VTM.

“There is still another percent to come, although that will be the case for everyone heading toward the Tour,” smiled Uijtdebroeks, who has moved up to eighth place overall. “On Sunday I will have to do it like I did today. We want to get the maximum out of it and also take this race with us toward the Tour. We want to see where we stand and see what the level is at the moment. I just have to go full gas all the way to the line.”

“The basic condition is really good, just like my fatigue resistance. That is what we have worked on so far, so that is positive. Now it is about fine-tuning toward the Tour, with some more explosive work,” Uijtdebroeks said. “I had not raced like this since Catalonia, and today was good. I am where I want to be, so now I just have to stay calm.”

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]