{"id":193500,"date":"2023-07-24T10:15:18","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T10:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=193500"},"modified":"2023-07-24T10:20:12","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T10:20:12","slug":"the-2023-tour-wrap-up-a-tour-de-france-that-is-already-legendary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/07\/24\/the-2023-tour-wrap-up-a-tour-de-france-that-is-already-legendary\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2023 Tour Wrap-Up: A Tour de France That Is Already Legendary"},"content":{"rendered":"

My favourite moment of this remarkable Tour de France, a race that had more memorable moments than a three-week honeymoon, was Matej Mohori\u010d\u2019s reaction to his stage 19 win and his very impassioned interview afterwards. Mohori\u010d\u00a0races for Bahrain-Victorious, which entered the Tour under the cloud of the death of its popular rider Gino M\u00e4der in the Tour de Suisse \u2013 and did his memory justice by winning three stages, one of them by the affable 28-year-old Slovenian.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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After a series of frantic breakaways in the final 20 km of the 172.8-kilometre 19th stage, Mohori\u010d\u00a0found himself racing for the finish line with Ben O\u2019Connor (AG2R-Citro\u00ebn) and Kaspar Asgreen (Soudal \u2013 Quick-Step) who had won the preceding stage in a similar three-man sprint. Mohori\u010d\u00a0and Asgreen hit the finish line at the same time, and while the photo of the finish was being analysed, the Slovenian sat patiently on the ground. When, at last, he was announced as the winner (by no more than 2 cm), Mohori\u010d\u00a0leapt into the air with a shout of joy and then began to weep, from relief, exhaustion and, as he would soon reveal, a wealth of other emotions.<\/p>\n

In the interview that followed, Mohori\u010d\u00a0described in often heartbreaking terms the life of a Tour de France rider as well as the staff that supports them. He began by saying that his win \u201cmeans a lot because it\u2019s just hard and cruel to be a professional cyclist. You suffer a lot in preparations. You sacrifice your life, your family and you do everything you can to get here ready. And then after a couple of days, you realize that everybody here is just so incredibly strong that it\u2019s just so hard to follow the wheel sometimes.\u201d The now three-time Tour stage winner ended the interview by declaring: \u201cI know how much it can change your life, a Tour de France win. I wish that everybody could win a Tour de France stage, but it\u2019s just not possible. And that\u2019s cruel.\u201d (Every reader who loves the Tour de France and admires its riders should listen to the entire interview here.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

My second favourite moment occurred on stage 20, when the flamboyant French rider Thibaud Pinot, riding on his last mountain stage in his final Tour de France and in the region that is his home, reached the summit of the penultimate climb of the stage, the Petit Ballon (9.3 km @ 8.1%) with a 20-second lead on a group of pursuers and more than 1 minute ahead of the peloton. The roar of adulation that greeted and followed him as he raced on gave this onlooker goosebumps, and it surely more than made up for the fact that Pinot did not win a stage in his final Tour.<\/p>\n

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Oh, Paris ! #TDF2023<\/a> <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf8 A.S.O \/ Ashley & Jered Gruber pic.twitter.com\/N3vrRZytVI<\/a><\/p>\n

— Tour de France\u2122 (@LeTour) July 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n