It was a case of being agonisingly close to a Tour de France win for Nick Schultz, what would have been a landmark win in his career only denied by a very good cyclist and the width of a wheel.
“I’ve never really been in a position to contest a Tour de France stage win,” said Schultz. “It was almost perfect. But you know Magnus Cort, he’s such a great rider and has won stages in so many Grand Tours.
“I’m really happy with second, but I’m also really upset. It’s not every day you get to try and win a stage of the Tour de France. I’ll keep trying and see where we get to.”
The Queenslander started the stage knowing that the breakaway was likely to be given some leeway to go all the way to the finish, with race leader Tadej Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates squad saving themselves for the following hard days in the mountains.
Schultz admitted that he had woken up from the previous stage with some poor sensations in his legs, a phenomenon that can affect riders after taking the rest day at a Grand Tour. Nonetheless, after a hard battle that stretched over the first 50 kilometres of racing, the Australian found his way into the move.
“It was a hard day,” said Schultz. “To be honest, I had really bad legs after the rest from the start. I had the boys trying to help me get in the move, I had to bite the bullet and try and get in there. I was almost worried when I got in there as I didn’t feel good.
“Luckily, I had Jack Bauer in there and he did a great job all day controlling the breakaway and pulling so I didn’t have to do much and I could find those good legs again.”
Schultz entered the final climb to the airport in Megeve in the group chasing lone leader Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-Easypost) and when they caught the attacker, the Australian was prominent in the aggression that followed, bridging up to Luis Leon Sanchez at the head of the race. He and Sanchez slowed and were joined by Mateo Jorgenson (Trek-Segafredo) and Dylan van Baarle (INEOS Grenadiers) before a large group, including Cort, came back within the final 500 metres.
Sanchez started the sprint to the line, but it was Schultz versus Cort in the final acceleration, with the Dane just coming over the top as they passed the white line, the photo on the line confirming victory for Cort.
“The directors were great, giving a lot of information,” said Schultz. “They were always in delay so you kind of had to watch the race yourself. That’s the part I love, I love racing, I love gambling in a bike race.
“I knew all the information, where it was steep, where it was flattening off, I knew what was coming at the end, I maybe just went a little early.”
Schultz is set to get more opportunities to race for stage glory in the mountains, with the 27-year-old the best climber in the team.
“Of course,” said Schultz when asked if he would try again from the breakaway. ‘That’s what I’ve come here for, that’s my role in the team, to get in the breakaway in these mountain stages, because we’ve pretty much got a sprint group plus me. There’s a lot of responsibility for me on these days, but I’ll do my best and see where we get to.”
The Tour de France continues with a day in the high mountains as the race continues with Stage 10 that finishes atop the Col du Granon. Watch on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker from 8.05pm AEST, with the SBS and SBS On Demand broadcast beginning from 9.30pm AEST.
