Tour de France: New father Campenaerts sprints to biggest victory of career
Victor Campenaerts has won the 18th stage of the Tour de France. The Belgian rider was too fast for his two companions in the breakaway after a hilly stage of 179.5km from Gap to Barcelonnette. Campenaerts, who became a father just over a month ago, was very emotional after the finish.
Campenaerts, of the Lotto Dstny team, proved to be the strongest and smartest rider in the latest stage. After a long breakaway, he beat Michal Kwiatkowski of INEOS Grenadiers and Mattéo Vercher TotalEnergies in a tricky sprint.
For 32-year-old Campenaerts, born in Antwerp, it is his first win in the Tour de France and the biggest win of his career. He won a stage in the Giro d'Italia in 2021 and in 2019, he set a new World Hour Record on the Aguascalientes Bicentenary Velodrome in Mexico, which he held for three years.
Almost immediately after the finish, Campenaerts was already holding a phone to share his emotions with his girlfriend and son, who was born just over a month ago. He was still very emotional in the traditional flash interview a few minutes afterwards, emphasising the importance of his partner's support. “I spent nine weeks on altitude training while she was heavily pregnant,” he said, in tears. “She is the heroine in this story.”
“Winning a stage in the Tour is a dream for everyone,” he said. “I am no longer a new pro, I've been dreaming of this for a long time.” He said he had had his eye on this stage since December last year and that he “played it smart”. “I pretended I was struggling and that plan worked. I may not be the most talented rider, but I work hard for it.”
#FlandersNewsService | Victor Campenaerts wins the 18th stage of the Tour de France, 18 July 2024 © PHOTO MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP
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