Sweeny: Surreal to be fighting for a Tour de France victory in neo-pro year

NMES FRANCE JULY 08 Harry Sweeny of Australia and Team Lotto Soudal 3rd place at arrival during the 108th Tour de France 2021 Stage 12 a 1594km stage from SaintPaulTroisChateaux to Nimes LeTour TDF2021 on July 08 2021 in Nmes France Photo by Tim de WaeleGetty Images
Harry Sweeny (Lotto Soudal) after coming across the line in third place on stage 12 of the 2021 Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Harry Sweeny may be just six months into his career as a WorldTour professional rider but on stage 12 of the Tour de France the Australian was in a position many spend their whole career dreaming of: out the front of the Tour de France battling for a stage win.

The Lotto Soudal rider initiated the crucial attack from the break at around 40 kilometres to go on the 159 kilometre stage to Nîmes, creating a gap with a surge on the climb that looked effortless, particularly because the Australian started it with an energy bar hanging from his mouth as he finished a feed. 

Simone Giuliani
Australia Editor

Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.