Groenewegen in redemption ride after death threat
Two years ago, Dylan Groenewegen received a noose in the post along with a note telling him it was intended for his newborn child.
Yesterday the Dutch sprinter, who was targeted by the hate mob after causing his compatriot Fabio Jakobsen to crash at 80kph at the Tour of Poland, experienced the ultimate redemption; he won stage three of the Tour de France into Sonderborg. In truth, Denmark’s three-day grand depart, which concluded with the win by Groenewegen (Team Bikeexchange-jayco) yesterday, was not as action-packed as many had predicted or hoped.
The favourites all emerged unscathed from Friday’s wet, slippery time-trial in Copenhagen; the anticipated crosswinds never materialised on Saturday; and yesterday’s run from Vejle to Sonderborg was a largely tame affair, although Slovenia’s two-time champion Tadej Pogacar came perilously close to crashing in a pileup 10kilometres from the finish.
To say that the opening stages of the 109th Tour have lacked drama or colour or rich storylines, however, would be well wide of the mark. Not since Yorkshire in 2014 have fans turned out at a grand depart in such huge numbers.
Denmark’s towns and hills positively heaved with spectators waving Danish flags.
It felt, at times, like the entire country had come out to celebrate the biggest bike race on Earth.
They roared on local favourite Magnus Cort (EF Education-easypost) yesterday as he escaped off the front for the second day running, hoovering up the necessary points to stay in the polka dot jersey as king of the mountains.
While the racing has been fairly pedestrian so far, the Tour has a habit of creating special moments and memories, and it did so again yesterday. After Jakobsen’s emotional sprint victory in Nyborg on Saturday, two years after being placed in a medically induced coma following that crash in Poland, yesterday it was Groenewegen’s turn.
The 29-year-old had received a nine-month ban from the world governing body, the UCI, for his part in that crash in Katowice. But worse was to follow. “When you read that message and see that piece of rope, you are terrified,” Groe
newegen told Dutch magazine Helden last year of the moment he received a noose in the mail. “There were such concrete and serious threats that we called the police a few days after the crash.
“The following days and weeks, the police guarded our door. We could not spontaneously leave the house. Of course, that affects you. What kind of sick world do we live in? Getting out of bed in the morning was quite a challenge.”
After coming past yellow jersey holder Wout van Aert (Jumbovisma) to win a photo finish, Groenewegen
was clearly emotional. He collapsed before being lifted up by team-mates, who linked arms and bounced around in jubilation.
“This is for my wife and my son, it means a lot,” Groenewegen said later. “It’s beautiful. Not physically but mentally it’s been a hard time, of course, after all that happened.”
The riders take a breather today as the circus makes its way to France. Many caught charter flights last night. Others depart today. Some in the caravan are driving the full 900km.
The British contingent will travel
in decent shape. Ineos Grenadiers’ Adam Yates, Tom Pidcock and Geraint Thomas lie eighth, 10th and 12th respectively, all three within 20 seconds of Pogacar and with everything to play for when the race resumes tomorrow with a 171.5km fourth stage from Dunkirk to Calais.
“It’s been a little bit more chilled than in previous years,” admitted Thomas of the action so far. With crosswinds again a possibility tomorrow, and Wednesday’s stage heading over the infamous Roubaix pave, it is unlikely to remain chilled for long.