Clara Koppenburg's 10-year-old super fan gets team car ride in Tour de France Femmes time trial

COL DU TOURMALET, FRANCE - JULY 29: Clara Koppenburg of Germany and Cofidis Women Team competes during the 2nd Tour de France Femmes 2023, Stage 7 a 89.8km stage from Lannemezan to Col du Tourmalet 2116m / #UCIWWT / on July 29, 2023 in Col du Tourmalet, France. (Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)

After stage 6 of the Tour de France Femmes, a young cycling fan met one of his heroes when he walked up to the Cofidis camper, asking for a signature from Clara Koppenburg for his bandana. 

The German rider was so taken with him that she gave him her gloves and bib numbers, too – and that wasn’t half of it: Today, he will be in the team car behind Koppenburg when she takes on the finishing ITT in Pau.

“It was a complete coincidence. I had seen the exchange, grabbed our Social Media manager, Lisa, and we ran after the family to tell them that if they could come to Pau, there was a spot in the team car for him,” Cofidis sports director Arthur Quilliec explained.

Cyclingnews spoke to the boy and his mother at the start of the time trial in Pau, the mother translating for her son.

Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.