Third place in stage 20 a welcome boost for Eenkhoorn after "mentally tough Tour": "It doesn’t always help"

“It was just a tough day,” the 28-year-old Eenkhoorn told NOS. “Just the whole Tour... Yesterday and the day before were also challenging days. If you had told me this this morning, I wouldn't have believed it, at least, that I would still be in the race at all. It was just another tough day, and tomorrow there's another one. Then I'll have suffered enough for a few days,” laughed the Dutchman.

It would ultimately be a grueling day, with the weather making it even more challenging. “The rain suits me,” Eenkhoorn said, seeing the positive side of things. “I'm really confident going downhill. I think that was definitely to my advantage.”

The wet conditions were not favorable for everyone, as we saw a crash in the leading group in the final. Iván Romeo (Movistar) seemed to be hit the hardest, while Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) was able to continue fairly quickly after a hard crash. “I didn't see it. I saw them then and I knew there was a corner coming, but I didn't feel it was dangerous today,” said the Soudal Quick-Step rider.

The crash did cause some confusion for Eenkhoorn. “I knew there were five guys in front of me and that there had been a crash, because I saw two of them... I didn't see them on the ground, but it was a tricky corner. It changed the whole situation in the race. Then three guys came up in front of me, but I just couldn't close the gap. It was just... Well, the last 20 kilometers were just suffering.”

Behind Groves, a few chasers regrouped, but the gap with the Australian did not get any smaller. "When Groves had forty seconds or so with ten kilometers to go, I knew we weren't going to catch him," concluded the Dutchman. "Frank might have been able to do it. He rode really well and got a well-deserved second place."

Saturday was another tough day for Eenkhoorn, especially since he is not feeling 100% physically. “I've been having some trouble with my butt since last week,” explained the Dutchman. “That doesn't always help, especially in the mountain stages, where it also affects your mental state. You are really suffering then, and if you're also in pain and not riding at the front of the race, it really irritates you.”

“At the end of the third week of a Grand Tour, that's especially tough mentally,” the Soudal Quick-Step rider continued. “It's really a tough game. Sometimes you have to put it behind you, and fortunately, I managed to do that today,” he said, sounding positive nonetheless.

So this tough period is almost over, with the final stage of this Tour de France coming up tomorrow. How does Eenkhoorn feel heading to Paris? “Happy. If you ask 90% of the peloton here... We've all had difficult days. This is a nice boost for me now. And I'm lucky because I'm the first to get to the bus,” he laughed.