Our polka dot jersey holder may have been enjoying the status of the best climber so far at the Tour de France, but he knew it was the time to up his game. Magnus Cort of EF Education–EasyPost looked all might and high as he crossed the finish line of the stage held in the beautiful Alps of Megève. Cort won the 148.5 km long stage on the 13th of July, Tuesday. While Tadej Pogacar remains the overall leader in the yellow jersey.
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Cort originally became part of the group of 10 riders, who fought to take the win on the last climb of 22 km. He fought his way to join the group after being dropped originally. At the finish line, he took the win from Nick Schultz (BikeExchange-Jayco), who was left in second place by mere centimeters. Talking about the victory, Cort commented:
I couldn’t have dreamed of a better Tour so far for me than this, It was huge for me already with the polka dot jersey in Denmark and then taking a stage win here – obviously
He also told what it meant to him to win a stage:
It was a dream for me to take a stage win as well, but from hoping and dreaming to doing it’s a long way.
The win did not come easy for the 29-year-old Danish rider, as at Altiport he had to fight Schultz, who delivered equally powered sprints as compared to Cort. The duo fought head to head as they crossed Luis León Sánchez (Bahrain Victorious). Sánchez had made a solo attack to break away from the group, but his efforts were in vain.
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Initially, Cort was not clear about what he had achieved as he crossed the line with Schultz. He realized it a little late and was overjoyed with the victory. As one can ascertain from his statement:
I think I realized maybe a minute after the finish, First, I had some journalists around me and then in my earpiece as well I had our sports director. It was a bit of a wait, but I had enough to do with just breathing
Magnus Cort now holds fourth place in the mountain classification. He has undoubtedly put in a lot of effort to achieve this. After winning the stage, He talked about how he always believed his hard work will pay off:
I don’t know if any victory is more deserved than others, but some of the breaks early on in this Tour weren’t with the goal of making it to the finish
He continued:
It was more about the points for the mountain competition and so here these last days the focus has changed and it already pays off
Magnus Cort is a winner of six stages at the Vuelta a España. He also won in Carcassonne at the 2018 Tour. And now he has another medal to add to his chest, in the shape of the victory taken at his home country.
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Featured Image Via YouTube/ Cylcing Pro Net
