Nicola Rutzou
We’re almost halfway through the Tour de France, having just witnessed an exciting Stage 10 on Bastille Day.
Stages 4 to 10 have provided plenty of different winners, and given us some exhilarating racing, not to mention the awesome scenery.
The Aussie rider count is now down to nine with the dramatic exit of Jack Haig in Stage 7 after a high-speed crash. Jack’s team reports that he’s making a good recovery. At the time of writing, Jayco-AlUla’s leader Ben O’Connor was the best-placed Aussie in 18th place in the GC contest.
On Stage 10, Ben O’Connor (4th) and Michael Storer (5th) missed out on victory, but this is the first time two Australians have finished in the top five since the 2021 Tour, Stage 1 (Michael Matthews 2nd, Jack Haig 4th). The most recent Australian victory is Jai Hindley’s triumph at Laruns in 2023 (stage 5).
Here are some visual highlights from our mate Sirotti and the A.S.O. official shots.
A big thanks to Quick-Step, our media partner for the Tour de France. Quick-Step Floor Designers is a key sponsor of the Soudal Quick-Step team being led by Remco Evenepoel.
Nicola Rutzou – a long-time contributor and, most recently, the editor of Bicycling Australia. Nicola is a keen Sydney-based road cyclist who writes reviews, news, and destination pieces, as well as the weekly e-newsletter for BA online.
