FDJ’s breakaway star reflects on being denied a stage victory inside the final three kilometres
Three kilometres from the finish of stage thirteen of the Tour de France in Lourdes, Jérémy Roy (FDJ) was heading for a glorious stage win. Less than a kilometre later though, he found himself in third place on the road, as World champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) and David Moncoutié (Cofidis) both overtook him as he faded on the rolling approach to the city of shrines.
In truth though, his capture had been virtually inevitable as soon as Hushovd managed to haul his body over the Col d’Aubisque little more than two minutes behind the FDJ rider. This doesn’t make the defeat any easier for Roy to swallow though.
"The disappointment is too great,” he said at the finish in Lourdes. “I’ll find it difficult to digest. It doesn’t matter if you win by a little or a lot because it’s only the win that counts.”
Missing out on the victory is such a disappointment, that the consolation of the polka-dot jersey, earned by topping the Tourmalet first on stage twelve and the Aubisque first on stage thirteen, cannot make up for it.
‘I did not really care about the polka-dot jersey when I went in the break,” he explained. “I wanted the stage win. I know I’m not a great champion and I have to do what I can with my ability, so I try and it still failed.”
Roy had already been part of the stage-long breakaways on days one and four, as well as a short break towards the end of stage five with current yellow jersey Thomas Voeckler (Europcar). On stage twelve he was in the thick of things once more, going clear in the first kilometres and fighting to stay clear on the final climb to Luz-Ardiden with Sky’s Geraint Thomas.
His escape on this particular stage though, had not even been deliberate.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “I did not mean to spend the day up ahead. It just happened that way. I went to the front of the peloton just to be attentive and just as I got to the front the escape was given some room to move and I just happened to be up the road.
“Then the group was watching Moncoutie the most and this allowed me to go ahead on the [Col d’Aubisque] before he went on the attack.
Roy has been statistically the most attacking rider of the Tour so far, with more kilometres in front of the peloton that any one. In none of these breaks had he held out any hope of victory though, until he found himself alone on the Col d’Aubisque.
“As for the descent: I was over a minute ahead so I thought it was possible,” he said. “It was only in the valley that it became very difficult. Then, when I heard the gap was down to 30 seconds, I knew it was almost over. It was two against one, plus a headwind. And when I had to take the two climbs near the entrance to Lourdes, it crushed me. I overcooked the engine.
“It would have taken a miracle for me to win,” he added, ironically, “but it wasn’t to be this time.”
After being out on the attack on both the mountain stages so far, it’s doubtful that Roy’s tired legs will allow him to go out to defend his polka-dot jersey on stage fourteen. What’s almost inevitable though, is that the FDJ rider will be out in front of the peloton at least one more time before the race hits Paris