July 18, 2019 (France) – At his debut Tour de France, Canada’s Mike Woods (EF Education First Pro Cycling) was 9th overall when he slid out a corner at 15km to go on Stage 8 taking out Team Ineos riders Geraint Thomas (Gbr) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol), dropping to 35th. On Stage 11 he suffered another crash but it wasn’t until after Stage 12 where Woods went down again that it was discovered that he had two broken ribs from his fall the day prior, yet the tough, out-of-luck Canuck, was cleared to continue.
Stage 11 Recap
Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) won the bunch sprint into Toulouse to kickstart the second week of the 106th Tour de France. Rigoberto Urán finished on bunch time, moving up a single spot on the general classification. With 11 stages down, 10 stages still to race Urán is 3’18 down on race leader Julian Alaphillipe.
“The team plan hasn’t changed,” said EF Education First Pro Cycling road captain Simon Clarke. “We’re still really focused on getting the best general classification result possible with Rigo. There are so many mountains to climb before Paris. A minute here or there will seem insignificant by the end of race. We’re sticking to our plan. Rigo has our full support.” While Urán recorded bunch time, neither Sebastian Langeveld nor Mike Woods made it the line with the peloton. Both were involved in a crash 35-kilometers from the finish.
“I was taking a bottle from one of my teammates,” Langeveld explained. “There must have been something on the road, a hole or something, and I lost control of my bike and went down.”
“I avoided the crash initially,” said Woods. “I was stopping, putting my foot down and then I got hit from behind. That’s how I ended up on the ground.”
Although the crash was unfortunate, it didn’t impact team tactics.
“Before the crash, Sebas, Woodsy and Alberto were looking after Rigo,” explained Clarke. “I had been sitting back and waiting to take over in the final, so after the crash, I jumped straight into action, and Scully and I covered Rigo. It was nearly time we changed over anyway. That was the plan. One group would look after him early and another group for the final.”
Both Langeveld and Woods assessed for concussions by team doctor Jon Greenwell and cleared to start Thursday’s stage.
“Aside for some skin off and a big hole in my elbow and my ribs are a bit sore, aside from that, I’m okay,” said Langeveld. “The next few days will not be easy but nothing is broken, and I don’t have a concussion.”
“I twisted when I fell and landed on my radio,” said Woods. “It impacted my ribs pretty significantly. I’m very uncomfortable.”
Stage 12 Clarke Wins
The 12th stage of the Tour de France, a Pyrenean appetizer to the weekend’s mountain stages, was dominated by a 40-rider breakaway that took nearly 90 minutes to establish. Alberto Bettiol, Simon Clarke and Tom Scully infiltrated the escape with Clarke going on the offensive in the final 60 kilometers.
“This is my fifth Tour de France and the first time I’ve been able to get into the breakaway on my birthday,” said Clarke. “I try every year. Normally it comes in the third week, and it’s a terrible mountain stage and always pretty hard to pick the right move. It all worked out for me today, so I figured I’d make the most of it.”
Rigoberto Urán finished in the main peloton, 9’35 behind stage winner Simon Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT). There were no changes to the top 25 overall, so Urán heads into Friday’s time trial in 12th place.
“It was tranquillo behind in the bunch,” explained Mike Woods. “It worked out great for me because I was pretty sore after yesterday’s crash.”
