Frank van den Broek has no regrets after his second place in the penultimate stage of the Tour de France. The Dutchman fought for the stage victory in the final, but had to bow to the Australian Kaden Groves.
In the last 20 kilometers of the soaking wet stage to Pontarlier, the 24-year-old Van den Broek remained only with Groves and the Briton Jack Stewart. Remarkably, the climber of Team Picnic PostNL refused to do any work at the front, while he could win a Tour stage for the first time.
With 13 kilometers to go, Stewart dropped a gap and Groves had flown. Van den Broek refused to lead the chase even after that. He still finished second, 54 seconds behind stage winner Groves.
“Groves and Stewart are two good sprinters,” Van den Broek explained his tactics to the NOS. “It was difficult for me to win and therefore I didn’t take over anymore. Stewart leaves the gap and that’s how Groves wins the stage. He was the strongest man in the group anyway. Second is still the best result.”
Van den Broek had already let Groves and Stewart know that he would not do any work at the front. When Groves drove away, Stewart vented his frustrations on the Dutchman. He reacted to that again. “I said: congratulations, here you give away the stage.”
“He was a bit pissed off at me. He didn’t understand why I didn’t want to ride along, but I had my reasons for that. If I followed Groves, I would be third. That’s why I’m not disappointed either. Second is a very good result. I can only look back with satisfaction.”
Pascal Eenkhoorn surprisingly spoke of a difficult day despite his third place. “If you had told me this morning that I would be there, I wouldn’t have believed you,” he said immediately after the stage.
“I have suffered enough in the past few days. I have been suffering from my seat since last week, which doesn’t help. At the end of the third week of a major tour, it is also a mentally tough game and you have to get over it. That has worked.”
Eenkhoorn just didn’t believe in a stage victory. “The last 20 kilometers were suffering. I immediately knew that we couldn’t drive to Groves anymore. Frank also rode super strong and finished in a well-deserved second place. I’m glad it’s over tomorrow.”