Minutes after Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to victory within the Tour de France on Thursday, Jayco-AIUIa administration had been already cracking jokes about his outlandish aero ‘beak’, with sports activities supervisor Matt White smiling to Eurosport and different media when requested in regards to the uncommon aero’ eyewear: “Batman did win at this time!”
The Australian squad workers had been logically within the highest of spirits at such early win within the Tour de France, their first in a Grand Tour since Filippo Zana went solo within the mountains of the Giro d’italia final yr, and their first within the Tour since Michael Matthews gained on Mende airfield in 2022. Their win additionally helped make up for the setback of GC contender Simon Yates comparatively robust begin to the Tour, getting dropped on the Galibier on stage 4 and dropping over 4 minutes.
Groenewegen’s victory was the nineteenth for Jayco-AIUIa this season, with the not too long ago topped Dutch nationwide champion choosing up their first European victory of the yr, too, within the Spanish season-opener, the one-day Classica Comunitat Valenciana and one other three earlier than July.
However, as White put it in a publish stage-6 interview, “Every group wants it [a Tour stage win], these three weeks are a large chunk of publicity, we’d commerce in each different of the 18 for this one.”
Explaining the comparatively late look of the Jayco-AIUIa group within the pointy finish of affairs within the Tour’s third bunch dash in 4 days, White advised Eurosport, “The boys stayed affected person, they got here and went and it was a really messy dash however the primary factor is he bought there recent, he bought there within the open as a result of he’s bought loads of velocity.”
“He’s modified his coaching this yr, he’s backed off on the amount this yr and targeting what his largest high quality is – and that’s velocity. And he confirmed a clear set of heels at this time.”
White defined that whereas their final stage win within the Tour dates from 2022, that they had been hitting the goalposts so much final yr, taking a number of second locations within the race together with fourth, with Simon Yates, on GC.
But by taking an early victory with Groenewegen – as additionally they did within the 2022 Tour, when the Dutchman took the primary of Jayco’s two wins that yr on stage 3 in Denmark, even earlier than the race had returned to France – extra alternatives had been nonetheless to come back. And with vastly strengthened extra from this newest triumph for Groenewegen, that may solely bode properly for Jayco-AIUIa in the remainder of this yr’s race.
“It [2023] was an excellent Tour, however you’re judged by your wins and loads of the yr is judged on these three weeks,” White mentioned. “So to get one within the can so early is nice as a result of clearly there are extra dash alternatives to come back and different alternatives for our different riders, too.”
Furthermore, as he identified laughingly, too, in reference to Groenewegen’s much-talked-about aero beak, “Batman did win at this time!”
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