A first Tour de France top-10 and a ride to be proud of for Lewis Askey in Voiron, Isère, on Wednesday.
The British rider finished fourth on stage 17, having fought doggedly on multiple occasions to make the crucial splits throughout a fascinating day of racing.
NSN was initially left without any representation in a strong 16-rider group that formed after the day’s final climb, the Côte de Saint-Jean d’Arvey (KM59.5). That breakaway later split in two, before Askey ended up joining the likes of eventual stage winner Jasper Philipsen, Olav Kooij, and green jersey leader Mads Pedersen in the second group on the road.
He says: “I rode a good race – I did what I had to do. The rest day and the time trial were massive saviours for me – without those, I wouldn’t have been here. That recovery helped me and it really made a big difference today.
“We knew it was going to be close today, and we said before the stage that we just had to fight to the top of this climb and see what was going to happen then.
“I was actually only a few wheels in front of our guys at the top, but I just did a pretty rapid descent, and that got me into the front group. It was really hard to manage with other teams with more numbers there.
“But I managed to be in the split each time that it happened, apart from when Pedersen went.”
After a final regrouping in the final 10 kilometers, 26 riders came to the line to contest for the victory. Askey positioned himself well – third wheel – coming into the final right-hand corner, and managed to hold on in a long sprint to place fourth, the same result as his compatriot Ethan Vernon recorded in Voiron in last year’s Vuelta a España.
“I said to Sam [Bewley, Head DS] on the radio, I need to take the risk and just go for the sprint because, you know, we’re 17 stages into the Tour de France, and my legs are hurting a little bit,” he said.
“I knew my goal this morning before we started the stage was just to be in the top few wheels into that last corner. And I know after a hard day, there aren’t that many people who can beat me.
“I kind of still hesitated, and maybe I should have just gone. But I didn’t have loads left in the finish, but I don’t think anyone else did either. I was only fourth in the end, but I think I couldn’t have done much more, really.”