Bob Jungels had multiple reasons to celebrate on Sunday in the Tour de France when the Luxembourg-born rider soloed across the finish line, and fending off as formidable a rival as Thibaut Pinot was arguably the least of them.
The 29-year-old AG2R Citroën rider pointed out in his winner's press conference, more than thinking about anything in particular in the final metres of Sunday's tough mountain trek through Switzerland and back over the first-category Pas de Morgins climb into France, his overwhelming feeling was one of relief.
That was because as Jungels related in a lengthy and moving interview last year with Cyclingnews, a longstanding case of arterial endofibrosis, finally diagnosed in 2021 but which had begun at least one season before, had threatened irreparable damage to his career.
But this year, the former Liège-Bastogne-Liege winner and Giro d'Italia leader was, at long last, able to regain his previous top condition, and scored a notable victory for AG2R Citröen, based in the nearby city of Grenoble after a spectacularly long solo break.
"For sure I was thinking I might not make it back to this level," Jungels, part of a 21-rider break before taking off along some 60 kilometres from the line, told reporters.
"Last year we finally found the source of the problem when I had surgery, so I started with a lot of motivation this season, hoping I would get back.
"But it took a long time to recover, and since the last couple of weeks I've been grateful I had that faith in myself. But it's certainly been a real rollercoaster of emotions."
Just 22 seconds on Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) at the finish after the Spaniard overtook Jungels most-tenacious pursuer, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Jungels said it had been a tense but thrilling finale.
"As always in a break, you don't really believe you're going to make it until you cross the line, but it was quite exciting with Pinot coming back, and a very hard finish up here in Châtel.
"To be honest, I was not thinking about much, it's just such a relief after so many frustrating months and years."
Quite apart from Pinot, Sunday's climbing challenges and the long battle against arterial endofibrosis, Jungels also had to handle what he called "a slight positive test" for COVID-19 just days before the Tour de France. He was finally cleared to race the following day, but it was touch and go.
"It was very, very close, I believe and came a bit out of nowhere, but luckily I made it," he recounted, before saying it was "not his place" to answer if it was right for riders who had even a non-symptomatic COVID case, as current regulations allow if permitted by doctors, to continue in the peloton.
"I had no symptoms and was completely healthy," Jungels said, "but you never know if the neighbour whom you could infect also has no problems. That's not up to the riders, and this is why we have experts and doctors to make these kinds of decisions."
Focus on long solo attack to victory
Back on the sporting front, Jungels opting to go clear from the last of his breakaway rivals so far from the finish had not been a strategic decision, he revealed. Rather he had "lost" the last rider with him, Simon Geschke (Cofidis) on the descent of a mid-stage first category climb, the Col de la Croix.
"[Fellow breakaway Patrick] Konrad [Bora-Hansgrohe] accelerated a little bit on the first cat. climb and probably because he had the same thoughts as me, he wanted to split up the group as it was just too big, " Jungels recounted.
"I just felt very good, so I continued his effort, pushing til the top and I was actually happy when Geschke was there.
"He took the points, because I told him I didn't want any and we could ride together towards the next climb. But on the downhill I lost him." Jungels said about his companion inheriting the Tour's King of the Mountains lead from Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) in the process.
Cue a rather irritated reaction from the AG2R Citroën team car, Jungels said, as the management tried to work out what he was doing, attacking, or giving the appearance of doing that, so far from the line.
"There was a lot of communication with the car, because I don't think they were so happy with what I was trying to do and I also didn't know," he said, "but I was alone and ahead.”
Eight times the Luxembourg national time trial champion including this year, Jungels said that in such a long solo bid for success, his ability to gauge his power just like in a race against the clock was crucial, particularly on the long flat section back through the stage start at Aigle and onto the Pas de Morgins climb.
"I just maintained a threshold effort, I knew if they wanted to catch me they would have to go very fast behind," Jungels, whose lead stretched to well over two minutes on his closest pursuers, said later.
"I really trying to pace myself as well as possible up that 15-kilometre climb. But I knew from my race radio that Thibaut was right behind me. In the end it worked out and I didn't blow up, it was good."
Quite apart from time trialling, the breakaway was, he said, a similar scenario to his lone attack and the ferocious counter-moves that also involved when fighting to win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège back in 2018, before his arterial endofibrosis battle began. Albeit one that involved 40 more kilometres between his attacking and finally raising his arms in success.
"That extra distance made it a bit more complicated, but the strategy was more or less the same.
"I was afraid Thibaut would catch me, and I knew in an uphill sprint would be hard to beat him. It's always hard to say what goes through your head, but I really tried to keep my focus and keep calm, to focus on my effort.
"And luckily it led to this victory, " he concluded, and not just against the Frenchman, but also against his own recent past.
