DYLAN GROENEWEGEN

JUMBO-VISMA

Groenewegen reminds me a bit of me. When he won his first stage in the Tour on the Champs-Élysées, he was absolutely busted going through the Tour; he was suffering so bad. He scraped inside the time limit but made it all the way and did an incredible sprint on the Champs to win his first stage. He went all the way from the corner, 350m.

I like his attitude and I like his style of racing. I’d like to see him have an entire team just for him, where he’s the leader. With Jumbo, he’s not even down to ride the Tour this year.

Groenewegen is only about 175cm tall, not much taller than me, But he’s really muscular and controlled in his sprint - his sprint looks really efficient. He’s got amazing power when he goes. He’s quite explosive and gets up to speed quickly.

He does strike me as very aware of his public persona and the image of the team.

He will bottle his defeat up until he gets in a private space and then let loose.

From what I’ve heard it’s not throwing accusations or blaming, but just a good old fashioned ‘F*ck it.’ I’ve always said, if you’re not p*ssed off when you’ve lost a sprint, you’re not a sprinter. If you’re patting people on the back straight away, all smiles and shaking hands and happy somebody else has won, it’s bullsh*t. I don’t mind a guy who can go back to the bus and kick something, swear and be a bit p*ssed off. I like that.

I’ve always said, if you’re not p* ssed off when you’ve lost a sprint, you’re not a sprinter