Team Jumbo-Visma around yellow carrier Wout Van Aert was slowed down several times on the way to Arenberg. Our columnist as well.
Photo: dpa/Thibault Camus
While defects and falls on the cobblestone stage from Lille to Arenberg hit the Jumbo-Visma team around the two captains Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard as well as Wout van Aert, bad luck also struck off the track. In what has now been 20 years of tour, this stage was the first where I did not reach the finish line. The car went on strike. The steering failed several times. Continuing would have been too dangerous for me and my colleagues.
The roadside assistance took more than three hours to get to us, but then promised that there would be a replacement vehicle at the original rental location in Dunkirk. When we got there, however, the next nasty surprise awaited us: the branch was closed. It didn’t open all afternoon either, and of course there wasn’t a new vehicle either. Just as it dawned on me that reaching the stage finish would be close, Tour leader Wout van Aert fell. What a funny coincidence!
The employees of the breakdown service then assured that a car would definitely be available in Dunkirk the next day. But I hadn’t given up yet. Just like Wout van Aert, I really wanted to reach the finish line in Arenberg that day. The Belgian had meanwhile fought his way back into the peloton. That should be possible for me too.
So I insisted, and the fourth employee in the call center actually found another car, but unfortunately in Lille. After all, the lender organized the paid taxi ride – only that taxi came from Calais. For whatever reason! During the waiting period, fellow favorite Vingegaard was held up by a broken chain, then Roglič fell off his bike, dislocated his shoulder and then fell back on himself. Jumbo-Visma began the exciting double race to catch up. We hardly noticed anything about it and instead made our way to Lille.
Van Aert was finally able to defend his yellow jersey. Vingegaard’s deficit was also limited. Only for Roglič was the yellow jersey a long way off. And me? The next setback awaited me. Contrary to the information provided by customer service, the station in Lille no longer had any free vehicles. “I don’t have a car, and even if I did, I don’t have a service person who could get it ready for loan,” said the desk clerk. There was no car there for the next day either. There is a rental freeze, she said. The fleet was massively reduced during the pandemic – and now it is not enough for the renewed demand.
Corona even led to the closure of entire rental stations. We had already experienced that at the beginning of this year’s odyssey, when the original loan agreement had simply been canceled because the return station in Mulhouse had been abandoned. We later got another car for more money, only to end up stranded in Lille. So back to Dunkirk. There will definitely be a car there tomorrow, said the woman. The cost of hotel rooms in Lille and the return journey are covered by the lender.
Luckily, the rule doesn’t apply to tour reporters: If you don’t reach the stage destination, you’re kicked out. No, we continue. At the time of writing these lines, however, it is still completely uncertain when we will catch up with the baggage train again.
