“That was the worst day of my life,” was the poignant summary of stage 11 at the Tour de France by Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious). Riding most of the hilly 211km into the Massif Central well behind the main field, the 25-year-old had only the broom wagon for company on the final climbs into Le Lioran.
TV cameras captured the slow progress for Wright as he crossed the finish line trailed by the tell-tale broomwagon to the applause from a small crowd. His day, and his Tour, ended with the clock showing he was outside the limit - one hour, one minute and 50 seconds behind stage winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
“I really had to suffer, and it wasn't much fun,” he told ITV Cycling after the stage.
“I wouldn't have wished this on my worst enemy, not that I've got that many enemies. Yeah, that was … I don't think I'm gonna suffer like that again, which is hopefully a good thing.”
Team Sports Director Gorazd Štangelj had said before the flag dropped to begin the massive stage into the Massif Central that it would be “a bit unpredictable stage,” and he was correct, both for the GC and for what happened to Wright. He said his riders would need to react, “be in the mix, ready to fight,” and be ready for everything.
But unlike stage 8 just a few stages ago, where Wright was impressive with an eighth-place finish in the uphill sprint to Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, the young Briton was not feeling well to begin his second week of riding. When asked what happened, Wright admitted that he could not pinpoint anything specific and just kept going.
“I'm not sure, to be honest. It was an easy day yesterday, and at the finish felt terrible. I couldn't help the boys, so I kind of was like, OK, let's go into today with a sort of fresh mind. And, you know, I'm always gonna be up for it, always stay positive.
“Just in the start, for the first one or two k [I was] involved, but then I just suddenly had a bit of a moment. I was like, man, I feel terrible. I really didn't have any power left. And, I was on my own quite early on,” he said in exasperation. “I've always been quite good at sort of TT’ing working out - this is what I've got; this is where I need to push.”
He rode at the back of the main field, joined in the first 40km with Ion Izagirre, and then a second Cofidis rider, Frenchman Alexis Renard, dropped back as well. The teammates did not show signs of injuries but seemed to have some sort of fatigue or illness, and each would stop pedalling and withdraw from the race across the next 20km. Wright continued alone.
Just two years ago, Wright showed brilliance in his second Tour with a second-place finish on stage 13 from Bourg d’Oisans to Saint-Etienne, a hilly day in the Alps in the second week of racing. It was a fourth trip to the Tour de France for Wright, but he would not be able to make it to Nice for the finale.
“I got no regrets because that was what I had. Just a shame it was just me alone,” he said with a wry chuckle.
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