Even if he leaves the Tour de France, Michael Morkov will have been heroic and can be proud of his performance. Dropped from the start of the race in an unlisted climb, the Dane of the Quick Step rode solo for 180 kilometers and finished this 15th stage between Rodez and Carcassonne out of time.
Despite a 20% increase in delays due to the high temperatures that have hit France in recent weeks, the 37-year-old runner failed to cross the finish line in time. He arrived one hour five minutes and forty seconds after the winner of the day Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin), about 12 minutes behind the authorized deadline (53′30).
Christian Prudhomme, the boss of the Tour, wanted to greet him at the finish line. As he had a few years ago with Mark Cavendish at the Col de la Rosière. “Exactly like Cavendish, Morkov wanted to cross the line when he knew he was out of time,” he explains. It’s a wonderful gesture. I told him : thank you for the Tour de France and he replied: thank you for organizing the Grand Départ in Denmark. »
On the other hand, there was never any question of rescuing Morkov, for reasons of fairness vis-à-vis the other teams of sprinters
“He fought in an incredible way”
On its Twitter account, the Quick Step formation wanted to pay tribute to its champion. “He fought in an incredible way, covering the last 180 kilometers of this fast, very difficult and hot stage alone. He made us proud even though he didn’t finish in the allotted time. Huge respect,” the team wrote. Fabio Jakobsen’s pilot fish took part in his seventh Big Loop this year.
There are only six riders left in the Quick-Step formation, after the retirement of Kasper Asgreen through injury and the late arrival of Michael Morkov today.
