Luke Tuckwell dedicates Tour Auvergne yellow jersey to sister who passed away last year
CyclingFriday, 12 June 2026 at 18:49
Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe enjoyed a superb day at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on Friday. Maxim Van Gils won the mountain stage after breaking his shoulder and pelvis earlier this year, but the story of new yellow jersey Luke Tuckwell may have been even more powerful. The 21-year-old Australian, currently in his first professional season, said he spent the entire day riding with his sister, who passed away last year, in his thoughts.
ADVERTISEMENT
Tuckwell began the day 1:03 behind yellow jersey Alex Baudin of EF Education-EasyPost. Last year’s Giro Next Gen runner-up, who also finished sixth recently at the Tour de Romandie, was still allowed to slip into the huge 60-rider breakaway that went clear early in stage five.
“We couldn’t believe our eyes. On these big roads, we were actually expecting a huge fight to get into the breakaway. Like recently, when it took an hour and a half,” Tuckwell said. “A massive group went from the start. I also saw a few Uno-X riders jump, and I remembered what they had done on the final day in the Basque Country,” he added, referring to the coup the Norwegian team pulled off there.
Read more below the photo.
Tuckwell tried not to think about the yellow jersey
“I was there and I was suffering, so I saw it as an opportunity. We had the perfect combination up front and the guys gave everything all day,” he said, referring to Van Gils, but also to Gianni Vermeersch and Callum Thornley. “I knew pretty quickly that I was the rider closest to the GC leaders in that group, and that I was only one minute behind. But I tried not to spend too much energy thinking about it.”
“In the valley, that advantage went from two and a half minutes to three, and then to three and a half…” the rider from Orange, New South Wales, recalled. “Then I did start thinking about it. And when we reached the final climb with a four-minute lead, I thought: ‘Okay, now it’s just a time trial to the top.’”
“Maxim and I both knew how strong we were, and the situation played perfectly into our hands,” Tuckwell continued. “Pablo Torres and Tobias Halland Johannessen were using energy by attacking each other, and then I was able to bridge across. It was an easy decision to go all-in for Maxim all the way to the finish.”
Read more below the photo!
Tuckwell dedicates yellow jersey to sister who passed away last year
For Tuckwell, it was the finest moment of his career so far. “Last year I wore the pink jersey at the Giro Next Gen, and that was truly a beautiful moment in my life. To now wear this jersey in a big stage race, I can hardly believe it.”
Last year, Tuckwell went through an incredibly difficult personal loss: his sister passed away after a two-and-a-half-year battle with a chronic illness, at the age of 19. That memory gave him strength on Friday. “All day I was thinking about my sister, who passed away in September last year. I really wanted to do it for her. The final kilometers were really hard, but I thought of her. This yellow jersey is in honor of her.”
Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]
IDL-productions
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 Stage 7 Preview | Grand Colombier set to terrify the peloton
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 Standings | Current standings with two tough stages ahead
Hofstetter explains raw emotions after finishing second to Van Aert: “You can beat Wout”
Visma | Lease a Bike responds after Van Aert leaves Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: “Not good news for the Tour”
Copenhagen Sprint 2026 | Dylan Groenewegen faces a strong Belgian sprint contingent
Latest Cycling News
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 Stage 7 Preview | Grand Colombier set to terrify the peloton
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 Preview | Two more tough stages ahead
Puck Pieterse fights back well in Austria, but misses out on the prizes in short race
Matteo Jorgenson shaken after seeing Oscar Onley “fly over the guardrail”: “I was a bit shocked”
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 Standings | Current standings with two tough stages ahead
Popular Cycling News
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 Preview | Two more tough stages ahead
UCI slaps hefty fines on three teams after Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes team time trial
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 Standings | Current standings with two tough stages ahead
UAE riders dropping like flies — who will support Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France?
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 start list | Van Aert and Matthews out
Latest Comments
- - Van Aert saying this was his last realistic chance before the mountains and then delivering is peak Wout. If he’s already sprinting like this, can’t wait to see what he does on those punchy mountain finishes later in the week.raceready711-06-2026
- - Interesting contrast with stageyesterday’s break survives, today the teams don’t give them an inch. Bahrain, Tudor, and Visma clearly learned their lesson. Reinderink looked lively though — Soudal are getting him in the right moves.tourdeforce911-06-2026
- - Feel a bit bad for INEOS there — Tarling had the legs but that move totally boxed in Godon. Classic chaos in the final kilometre. Still, Hofstetter sneaking into second was impressive given how Visma controlled everything.sprocketspiny11-06-2026
- - What a clinic from Visma | Lease a Bike. Affini’s lead-out was ice-cold and Van Aert finished it off perfectly. You can tell he’s sharpening up for the Tour — picking his moments, staying patient, then boom. Also, shout-out to Armirail for that monster pull with 3 km to go.velodromevirtuoso111-06-2026
- - Quinn Simmons deserved the win—break had real horsepower—but I’m already excited for the next stages. If Visma gets their preferred scenario (smaller break), Wout’s right there for a proper shot. Great read, thanks Gauthier!pedalpowe2910-06-2026
- - The honesty from Wout is refreshing. Asking the team to trust him in the morning, then paying it back with legs in the finale—even if it’s only for 11th—says a lot. Paris-Roubaix winner doesn’t need to prove anything, but this shows the engine is back online.jennifer1910-06-2026
- - That was a textbook “too many in the move” scenario. Pairs up the road and half the peloton missing it—no way you bring that back without full cooperation. Still, Visma did a massive pull and Wout finished it off with the bunch sprint. Encouraging signs.bikebuffj10-06-2026
- - Loved seeing Wout smiling again. Winning the bunch sprint after the TTT struggles shows the form is coming. If he keeps building like this, the next real chance could turn into a win. Break was just stacked today.tourdeforce910-06-2026
- - The management changes are big news, but I like his perspective: day-to-day is about riders, DS, and coaches. Still, saying he’ll miss Guercilena shows maturity. If he keeps showing this level after his altitude block, I don’t see how they leave him off the Tour roster.robert6510-06-2026
- - Interesting that Wednesday wasn’t even his target stage. Sometimes the best wins come when you’re not forcing it. If Lidl-Trek is taking Ayuso and Skjelmose for GC, a Simmons in this kind of form feels like a perfect engine for break stages and tough transitional days in July.andrewf10-06-2026
Loading