JAKARTA - Victor Campenaerts of Lotto'Dstny won perfectly in a sprint of three riders to win the etape 18 Tour de France, a hilly etape 179.5 km from Gap to Barcellonentte on Thursday, July 18.
Campenaerts are in the leading trio alongside Michal Kwiatkowski and Matteo Vercher, where the Belgian waited just behind two other riders before exploding in a powerful sprint in the last 200 meters to win his first etape win on the Tour de France.
The 32-year-old racer looked emotional after the victory because he immediately made a video call with his girlfriend and child. "I've been dreaming of this for a very, very long time," said Campenaerts, who was moved and had difficulty speaking.
🏆 Das Trio kommt durch! 🇧🇪 @VCampenaerts gewinnt vor 🇫🇷Matteo Vercher und 🇵🇱@kwiato. #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/0kY5NQiiR8
— Tour de France - DE (@letour_de) July 18, 2024
Das Trio kommt durch! badminton @VCampenaerts gewinnt vor Matteo Vercher und ungkin@kwiato. #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/0kY5NQiiR8
"After Classic, I had a very difficult time. I had a verbal deal with the team about contract extension and I was ignored for a long time and it was very difficult," he said.
"I was in a long height camp but my girlfriend was there and she supported me every day, was very pregnant, and I had a hard time completing my training schedule," he added. "But I changed my mind, I still have a bright future in the world of cycling. I became a father and I only saw the blue sky."
Trio
Campenaerts, Kwiatkowski from Poland, and Vercher from France broke away and jumped about 35 km from the finish line and the trio kept the pressure on as groups of five riders tried to catch up.
However, they managed to keep the chasers at a comfortable pace until the last sprint as Campenaerts remained behind while Kwiatkowski took the lead, continuing to look back.
Campenaerts finally moved to overtake the two riders chasing it in vain when Vercher of TotalEnergies, who had an earlier crash in the neutral zone at the start of etape, finished second and Kwiatkowski from Ineos Grenadiers in third.
"He (dating) is a hero in this story. I am very grateful that he made this possible, that I have a super long height camp to prepare for this Tour de France," Campenaerts added.
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"I have confidence that I will be in good condition. I will leave the team, but I am very happy that I can end with the possible spotlight of my career. We will celebrate tonight!"
The group of riders such as Jai Hindley and Wout Van Aert finally crossed the 22-second line behind.
Tadedj Pogacar and the yellow jersey group finished nearly 14 minutes behind as they played safe and saved their energy ahead of the next two mountain stages.
Pogacar of Slovenia maintained a yellow jersey and led Jonas Vingegaard by three minutes and 11 seconds.
The tour now heading to the Alps and etape 19 on Friday was a 145 km journey from Embrun to Isola 2000.
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