Simon Geschke (Cofidis) was distraught at the finish of Tour de France stage 18 at the top of Hautacam after losing the polka dot jersey on the final day of the climbs. The German, who had gone up the road day after day in search of points, missed the breakaway yesterday and so lost his chance to defend the jersey.
While he joined lots of moves in a bid to get clear, when the breakaway went he missed it. And that meant he was not in a position to go for points on the climbs of the Aubisque, Spandelles, or Hautacam. And when Tour leader, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), won the stage on the summit finish, he took the jersey from Geschke.
The Dane now leads the classification with 72 points as Geschke is on 64 points. And because there are only cat 4 climbs remaining in the race, even if the German took all of them he could not retake the jersey.
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At the finish yesterday he sat on the road with his head in his hands in tears - video below - as he was being consoled by a team staff member. He had spent nine stages in the jersey after going on the attack and making breakaways on stages 7, 9, 11, 14 and 16.
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"The beginning of the stage was very stressful. I spent lots of energy trying to get to the right breakaway," he said. "The team did an incredible job again. We came very close to the breakaway on the approach of the Aubisque without succeeding.
"I knew that I had to score points on the Aubisque. From the moment I didn't manage it I knew that it was going to be impossible to keep the jersey. I am now second in the mountains classification and that's not bad. The polka dot jersey is for the best climber in the Tour de France and I know that the one who deserves it most is wearing it now."
