ISN AT THE TDF – STAGE 20: THE DRAMA, THE HISTORY

History was made today on a 36km uphill to the top of an almost obscure mountain that, from now on, will be known as the scene of one of the most dramatic Tour de France turnarounds ever.

So yeah, the whole world is talking about the stunning crunch time move by the young Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, who stole the yellow jersey away from his fellow countryman, Primoz Roglic. “It was just incredible,” said our best finisher today, Nils Politt, who finished 28th. “I was quite happy with my performance, but this guy was just FLYING up there.”

Even Eric Van Lancker, our Belgian sports director who raced 8 TDF editions himself commented, saying “It’s something you rarely see, but I also understand how this could have happened – with all the pressure Roglic and his train had to take all Tour long.”

Talking about drama, pressure, and history – we have a HERO of our own, and his name is GUY NIV, of course.

The Israeli knew that he would have to perform at his best to avoid elimination in the most heartbreaking way. The course was not ideal for his small-sized body – 30km of a relatively flat road before the climb. “I had plenty of goosebumps,” he admitted.

But the pressure did not affect him. “Actually, on the flat, I surprised myself,” he said. And when the last kilometers came up, our Spanish sports director pushed him on the radio straight to his earphones, “The whole of Israel is behind you now!”

He knew that he made it. “I saw the last ‘wall’ and the thousands of people, and I knew that I was making it to Paris to fulfil my dream!”

Van Lancker was impressed with him too. “He faced a very hard Tour de France with surprising stability and self-control,” he said. “He should be proud. We are all very proud.”

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