His childish, hilarious face and his mimicry with his elder on the line, whom he pulled all the way to Rimini, had the taste of victory but, a few moments after sharing this success alongside Romain Bardet, Frank Van den Broek remained stunned: “Maybe, in a few hours, I will realize but now, it’s incredible.” The DSM-firmenich PostNL rider took to the board for the Auvergnat, who did not fail to salute his dedication by pointing at him once he had crossed the line.
The 23-year-old Dutchman finished second in the stage but he didn’t leave the Italian seaside resort empty-handed either, taking the green jersey and the white jersey for best young rider and, for spending nearly 200 km at the front, also winning the prize for combativeness. By taking the breakaway, he perfectly responded to his team’s plan, getting back up to play the relays 50 km from the finish when Bardet went on the counterattack.
“I’m dead, my legs are empty
With Valentin Madouas having dropped out, the two team-mates headed towards Rimini for a mini team time trial that rinsed Van den Broek, “really on the limit but I thought it could do it. I was still surprised by my pace. Then, Romain helped me over the last hill. The end was very hard, it burned. It’s crazy that we made it! I’m dead, my legs are completely empty.” According to him, caught up in the excitement of taking part in his first Tour and the anxiety of not being up to it, they were not valiant at the start in Florence and the winner of the last Tour of Turkey did not feel “good”. On the roads in the Italian basin, this was not seen.
