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The first few days in Denmark were pretty unreal and I鈥檝e never seen crowds like that. There was so much energy from start to finish, and I鈥檝e never seen that many people out to watch a bike race. It was an incredible experience.
It was great to have my teammate Magnus Cort out there doing his thing with the King of the Mountains jersey. That was good for team morale, and for Magnus on a personal level. It鈥檚 a pretty unique experience to have the Tour come to your country if you鈥檙e not from France, so that was awesome to have him in a jersey, scoring points and to hear everyone scream his name.
It was pretty nervous in the peloton for those first few days, but nothing too crazy happened. I鈥檝e just been trying to keep myself at the front and out of trouble because our A goal is still Rigoberto Ur谩n, and my main goal is trying not to cause any trouble. I鈥檝e had some help from Stefan and the rest of the guys are helping Rigo, so we鈥檝e still got a back-up idea for when we get to the mountains but ultimately we just want to keep everyone out of trouble.
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Getting caught out or caught in a crash can be so bad because the roads are so tight that if you鈥檙e involved, you can鈥檛 always see where you鈥檙e going to land and you can鈥檛 see who is going to hit you from behind. It鈥檚 almost easier to be at the front but everyone has the same idea so it ends up getting pretty hectic. But I鈥檝e been enjoying everything that comes with it and all the tension that you get with the first few days of the Tour. That feeling isn鈥檛 going to last forever with what鈥檚 coming up.
Going back a few days, I was happy with my time trial in Copenhagen. It was a bit of a roulette when it came to who was sliding and who was crashing, although I think that everyone was sliding out on some of those corners. In the first 4-5km I felt great and was within seven seconds of van der Poel but in the second half it became more technical and slippy. I could feel my rear wheel sliding around each corner so I had to calm down a bit. I wasn’t there to win the stage so I just took it easy because the main goal is to make it through the first week in one piece. I gave up time but it was worth it to me.
Looking ahead we鈥檝e got another tough stage and then it鈥檚 onto the pav茅. I鈥檓 feeling confident about stage 5 and Roubaix cobbles simply because we鈥檝e got a really strong team for the terrain. Our team has been super strong on the flat and I think we鈥檝e got the riders to put the team on their backs so that riders like Rigoberto and I just need to hold their wheels.
We鈥檒l do our best to stay together but I鈥檓 pretty sure that there are going to be a lot of riders losing time on stage 5 because there鈥檚 only so many riders who can fit on those roads. If it鈥檚 raining then it will be a whole different ball game. Our team will just ride it as a one-day race regardless of time gaps because it could be total chaos.
My experience with cobbles is pretty limited. By limited I mean nothing at all, especially at the pro level. I did race Paris-Roubaix as a junior but I crashed out before we got to the pav茅. There were a few cobbles at worlds last year. I鈥檝e raced U23 Flanders, and there were a few cobbles there. We鈥檝e got plenty of guys around us who have that experience so I鈥檒l just try and feed off them.
An update on Ruben who is pretty banged up: the midnight stretching has ceased, mainly because he鈥檚 having a hard time moving. He鈥檚 a little slower getting around but I do my best to wait for him at meal times and departure times because I know that he can鈥檛 help running a minute or two late and I feel bad leaving him behind. I鈥檓 trying to keep him company so we鈥檙e either on time or a few minutes late as a unit.
The team are taking great care of him though, checking his wounds, and helping him as much as possible. I feel like this is the most comfortable that I’ve ever been on a bike because I’m seeing a chiropractor every day and getting a massage after each stage. Ruben just needs a bit of time but he鈥檚 relaxed and saving energy whenever he can. He鈥檚 got me for support too.