Nice performance, but Knetemann shows little praise for "super arrogant" Gaudu: "Found him a bit annoying"

In 2017, Gaudu was a first-year pro, while Knetemann had just made the switch from Rabobank-Liv. “Back then, he was really just a boy, and he didn't talk to women on bikes,” the former rider recalls. “I found him a bit annoying. At the time, I thought: That little boy, maybe he's just a bit shy. But then I realized it wasn't shyness. He's super arrogant. I find that difficult to deal with.”

Gaudu managed to win by taking a lot of risks in the last corner. Number three, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), had his own opinion. “That was quite a move,” said the red jersey wearer. The camera crew didn't manage to get a good view of the corner, so viewers had just a limited view of what happened. “Vingegaard was in the front row, of course, so maybe he saw something. Something that looked like a T-bone. We saw him turn in. And when he came out of the corner, nothing happened.”

In addition to missing out on the stage victory and the withdrawal of Axel Zingle, Visma | Lease a Bike had even more bad luck. The Dutch team was robbed of no fewer than 18 bikes during the night from Sunday to Monday. "That's not a nice way to wake up, of course," Knetemann responded. "And it's happening again!" In both the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes, Cofidis was the victim: the French team also had a large number of bikes stolen. These were later recovered.

It paints a distorted picture of the teams' security, says Knetemann. "It now seems as if those teams are leaving their doors open, but they are cautious to ensure that this does not happen. They try everything to secure the bikes as well as possible. And of course, you always hope that you are parked in a hotel car park that is always secure. But that may not have been the case. "Can the breakaway riders make it difficult for the sprinters? "I'd give it a try."

Moving on to Tuesday's stage. It looks like a relatively flat stage, but the opening phase takes the riders straight through the Alps, which means there are 3,000 meters of climbing on the program. Knetemann hopes that the breakaway riders will provide some excitement. “You have to cycle 130 kilometers. That's a long way, of course, but if you can get a lead—and you also need a team behind you that can control it—then you can really coast to the finish. If you're a decent climber, I'd give it a shot.”