Tour de France teams presentation: Riders in their own words 🇫🇷
Q&As with Jake Stewart, Simon Yates, Neilson Powless, Luke Plapp, Geraint Thomas and Eddie Dunbar
Hi Subscribers,
Thursday focused on press conferences, media accreditation, travel, and ultimately the main teams' presentation in Lille's city centre. All the riders for this year’s Tour de France attended, and I managed to grab a few stars after they were on stage.
The following conversations with Jake Stewart, Simon Yates, Neilson Powless, Luke Plapp, Geraint Thomas, and Eddie Dunbar delve into details about personal and team ambitions, form coming into the Tour, contracts and much more.
To coincide with the start of the Tour de France, I’m running a 20% discount on all new annual subscriptions, so for around £1/€1/$1 per week, you get all my transfer stories, interviews and race analysis. To take advantage of the special offer, simply click below.
Later today, we have the Visma press conference at 9:30 am, followed by a press conference (and lunch) at Picnic PostNL. There will be one or two more transfer stories too…
Thanks
Daniel 🫶
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Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech) 🇬🇧
DB: Can you tell us about your form coming into the Tour?
JS: I did nationals, which was the hardest race of the year. It always is, and it’s very much like amateur racing. The sensations were good, the numbers were good. We didn’t get the result that we were hoping for, but I’ve come to the Tour in really good shape.
DB: Have you identified the stages that best suit you?
JS: If I look at the road book, then I lose sleep. I take it day by day, and stage 2 is something that looks like it could be interesting for me. It always depends on how they want to race the final, but if it’s a small bunch sprint, that’s something that I’d be interested in.
DB: How will it work with you and fellow sprinter Pascal Ackermann in the team?
JS: Primarily, I’ll be here for the lead-outs, so I’ll help Pascal where I can in the fast finals. We need to assess each day in terms of how he’s recovered after his crash in the Dauphiné and where his form stands. On some of the harder days, we’ll focus on me. Last year, before I came to my first Tour de France, everyone told me how stressful it was. Because the opening weekend in Florence was so hard, it kinda chilled everyone out, and it wasn’t that stressful, but now on stage 1, with the yellow jersey on the line, I think it’s going to be pretty chaotic.
DB: What did you stage win at the Dauphiné do for you?
JS: It gave me confidence more than anything and validated what I’m capable of. It also came off the back of the win in Dunkerque, which made me realise what I am capable of. When you’re riding with confidence and you know that the form is good, that’s when you’re good at bike races.
DB: Did that win solidify your decision to stay with the team, or was that already decided?
JS: I’d already signed with the team back in January. I was so happy with the team. I’d been in some dark places when I was racing with FDJ, and I wasn’t really enjoying the sport, but I refound that love in racing and training. There’s no point in trying to fix something that’s not broken, so it was clear to me that I wanted to stay with the team and the results in Dunkerque and the Dauphiné were because I was relaxed, happy, secure and had the support of the team.
Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) 🇮🇪
DB: How’s the form coming into the Tour?
ED: Not too bad. I think I had a good Dauphiné, apart from that big GC day on stage 7, when I struggled in the heat. Other than that, I did a few good results, and I was happy with how it went.
DB: The objective here is to help Ben O’Connor, or do you have your own ambitions
ED: I’m here to support Ben. I think he showed he’s in good form at Suisse, and he did well there, and I’ll just support him as well as possible. In that final week, it’s going to be really hard and the race is going to be torn to bits, so it’s really important to have support guys in the mountains. That’s going to be my main job, and I need to get through the first week and then be there for Ben.
DB: What does it mean to make it to the Tour for the first time, finally?
ED: It’s been a while. I expected it earlier in my career but it’s nice to finally get the chance to do it. Obviously, I’ve done two Vueltas and two Giros, but to finally tick the Tour off is nice. You can just feel it. It’s a bigger event, and being part of it is huge. I just want to put on a good display for myself and the team.
DB: Finally, I know it’s not August, but I would be remiss not to ask about the plans for next year. Where are things now?
ED: I’m still deciding, but I guess that I have my decision made in my head. I can’t really say. We’ll have to wait until August 1.
DB: It sounds like a fresh start…
ED: It’s possible. It’s definitely possible. I think we spoke back in the Tour of the Alps, and I said that there are options. I think that the transfer market is changing a lot this year, and there’s a lot of waiting, with a lot of riders not knowing what they are doing, but thankfully, I have a solid option, and we’ll see what happens.