TEAM SUNWEB’S TOM DUMOULIN (NED) HAS CROSSED THE FINISH LINE IN PARIS TO SECURE 2ND IN THE GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AT THE TOUR DE FRANCE, THE FIRST PODIUM FINISH FOR THE TEAM AT LA GRAND BOUCLE. THE TEAM’S FIRST ATTEMPT GOING FOR THE GC AT THE TOUR, AND THE FIRST GC-VENTURE AT TWO CONSECUTIVE GRAND TOURS, DUMOULIN FINISHES THE RACE IN A TOTAL TIME OF 83 HOURS, 19 MINUTES AND FOUR SECONDS, ONE MINUTE AND 51 SECONDS DOWN ON THE RACE WINNER.
Seven out of the team’s eight riders finish the race, with Team Sunweb’s two debutants Søren Kragh Andersen (DEN) and Chad Haga (USA) both completing their first Tour de France. Theuns also crosses the finish line on the Champs Elysées after a crash saw him abandon two years ago.
Team Sunweb conclude their Tour de France campaign after a consistent three week performance by both Dumoulin and the team. A stage win in the rainbow jersey and a solid team time trial, the team write in their history books taking 2nd at the Tour.
Team Sunweb coach Luke Roberts (AUS) said: Team Sunweb coach Luke Roberts (AUS) said: “The goal that we had coming here was the process of working towards a GC result and to see what we could learn from this race, without specific expectations on results. We’ve definitely done that, it was a tough race and the first nine days were really stressful for the riders and that was before we’d even got to the mountains. Given the fact that we had to miss Wilco and lost Michael so early, we can be very proud of how we dealt with the race both mentally and tactically. We made the most out of this situation and the guys did a great job, being there on the key moments. With the amount of riders not making it to Paris this year we can see how tough it really was. And with that, we can be proud that we’ve arrived into Paris in 2nd place.”
Tour de France road captain Nikias Arndt (GER) said: “We’ve all had a really nice three weeks here. We started really well, did a great TTT which gave us motivation and trust that we can go for a good GC. We were all so disappointed when we lost Michael because of illness but we kept fighting and made the most out of it. When we lost time on the Mur de Bretange stage we knew that it didn’t make us weaker, so we just kept fighting. All in all we’ve had an amazing three weeks and we’ve all really enjoyed it. We all gave 110 percent and it’s unbelievable what we’ve achieved here. The support from the whole staff was amazing; our bikes were always on point, the soigneurs looked after us really well, the coaches, everyone. Now it’s really time to celebrate together as a team.”
Dumoulin said: “Before today, the Tour de France was already a success for us and it was more than we had all hoped for. To finish second here is really special and I’m genuinely really happy with the result. If someone told me that after such a hard Giro I would be on the podium at the Tour de France, I would have immediately signed for it. We came into the race really open, of course we were going for the GC but not specifically the podium so I’m super happy with the outcome and proud of what me and the team have achieved here.”
