“I suffered a lot.” Russian racer fighting for victory in the Tour de France
A prestigious debut cycling day for many years can give fans a prize-winner from Russia.
The unexpected leader of the German team
The most prestigious cycling race, the Tour de France, rarely gives hearty fans a reason to rejoice. collected the current difficult times, in general, it was hard to watch that this year at least someone from Russia would go to this race.
But we found such a cyclist, and even what one. 26-year-old Alexander Vlasov not only achieves to conquer European tracks, but is also quite ready to compete for high marks in the general inspection.
The Russian is also heavily counted on in his Bora-Hansgrohe game. The bosses of the German team announce that they intend to compete for the conquest at the Tour de France this year. This can be done by capturing Vlasov’s help.
Alexander, with brilliant performances in the past, deserved to be sent to the French cycling day service. A year earlier, he became the owner in the overall standings of the Paris-Nice race and closed the top three in the Tour of the Alps. On the Spanish “Vuelta” Vlasovel in the general attack on the fourth position.
The Russian and the observer of the season started smartly. On the prestigious Message Tour, he swept the overall standings until something bad happened to him. One day he was forced to stop the race, as he fell ill with COVID-19. But even the results were caught so that the Bora-Hansgrohe bosses preferred to send Vlasov to the Tour de France, instead of the strong cyclist Sam Bennett, who in 2020 became the owner of the “green jersey” as the best sprinter.
“I didn’t have a deviation from the possibility of exposure”
The first stages of the French cycle race passed through the territory of Denmark. Here it was important for the Russian to stay in the observation zone from the leaders, which he did brilliantly. The first serious problems awaited Vlasov in France. At the end of the sixth stage, 10 kilometers before the finish line, Alexander fell into a blockage, falling with a bicycle at high speed.
— It was very unfortunate that I became a participant in this accident. I saw this blockage in the middle of the road. I had time to get ready, but the cyclist in front of me fell. Because of this, I had no way to dodge the collision, – said said Vlasov after the stages.
The Bora-Hansgrohe riders were shocked by the lung. But they quickly settled in. The partners helped Vlasov to get up and “lift” him to the detached group of leaders so that the Russians would not fall into a general trap.
– When I crashed, the guys immediately stopped. They did a great job of getting me back into the lead. We worked hard, and I returned to the first group with about four kilometers to go, – told about the help of download partners Alexander.
“It was a bad day”
At the end of the sixth event, despite the fall, the Russian cyclist was full of optimism. But what was the disappointment when, on the seventh day of the race, Alexander really failed. The mountain stage turned out to be undesirable for Vlasov at the current Tour de France. The representative of Russia finished only 26th. He became the leader of the overall standings Tadej Pogacar for more than a minute and a half. This failure threw Alexander from seventh position beyond one ten, to 12th place.
“It was very hard for me today. I had particular muscle pains in my lower back, especially in the second part of the races, which I suffered a lot. When I lost contact with the group where Pogachar went, I tried to find the rhythm, the lost time. Of course, the result is disappointing, it was a bad day. But I hope to recover, the tour will still last a long time, – excited hope for the best Vlasov.
After such a failure, there was practically no hope for a return to the podium results for the Russian. What a surprise it was when Vlasov was literally reborn from the ashes, like a Phoenix bird.
No one expected Alexander to be among the best before the start of the eighth stage, but the Russian overcame himself and finished in Lausanne with the same time as the winner. True, he was only sixth in the protocol of the race, but it was clearly a feat.
The appearance of Vlasov among the leaders was extremely unexpected for many, that this refers to a funny situation. Alexander, after the finish of the race, gave interviews to journalists in a protective mask. At this moment, director Dan Jones, who is preparing materials for the Tour de France, confused the Russian with another athlete from Bora-Hansgrohe, Lennard Kemna. Fortunately, here Vlasov showed himself as a real racer of the first magnitude. He did not become offended, but replied that it was not him.
Alexander Vlasov has even more arrests ahead. If it will be difficult to conquer Pogachar, then it will be quite possible to catch on for the top three strongest people.