Cycling: Cycling is the most beautiful sport in the world. In July, this thesis was again confirmed several times. Of course, our three highlights are all about the Tour de France - but there is also a little surprise. Together with pictures and text, we look back at those cycling results and races that particularly captivated us in the past month.
La Course by le Tour de France: It couldn't be more exciting
Ladies First: Unfortunately, there is currently no Tour de France for women. However, the organization of the Tour of France did the best advertising for women's cycling. Before the men were supposed to contest the tenth stage, the women were on - mostly - the same course. It was the same for her La Course up and down the Col de Romme and the Col de la Colombière. One can only hope that many cycling fans turned on their televisions a little earlier that day because they got to see a race that certainly doesn't get to be seen every day. The Dutch woman Anna van der breggen (Boels-Dolmans) was the first to cross the final summit and then pounced on her compatriot with a lead of around ten seconds Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) down the descent. The lead was always between seven and ten seconds up to 100 meters from the finish line. What happened next is unbelievable...
John Degenkolb fulfills his childhood dream
"Once to win a stage in the Tour de France." All children and young people in cycling probably share this wish. John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) has already won the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana, and he's also won the one-day classics Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix. But at the Tour de France it just wasn't going to work out - until the ninth stage in 2018. On the way to Roubaix, there were over 20 kilometers of cobblestones to complete. Spectators saw numerous mishaps, falls and suffering faces. But in the end, the smile of one man outshone everything else: John Degenkolb was the first professional to cross the line and then burst into tears. Winning can be so beautiful!
Kruijswijk is intercepted by Thomas on the Dutch mountain
Alpe d'Huez is known as the "Mountain of the Dutch". But the fans were able to celebrate the last winner from the Netherlands in 1989. On the twelfth stage the Tour de France 2018 it was ridden once more - and a Dutchman almost won. Steven Kruijwsijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) went into the final climb with a big lead. It quickly became clear that either he would win or one of the favorites for overall victory. Numerous attacks were made - and Kruijswijk was caught shortly before the line. In addition to the tragedy surrounding Kruijswijk, the stage to Alpe d'Huez was also important in terms of the overall standings. On that day it was evident that Geraint Thomas (Sky) is the strongest man in the peloton and that Chris Froome (Sky) was not superior to the competition from the other teams this season. Because after his attack drove Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) close the gap again. If this hadn't happened, Froome would have time on Thomas and co. out - and there might have been another overall winner.