08 July 2021

Connor Swift: "A good experience”

Promised on paper to the sprinters, this stage from Saint-Paul-les-3-Châteaux to Nîmes was won solo by Nils Politt who escaped in the final of a break of thirteen riders that included Connor Swift. He finished in 11th position in the city of Gard. Nairo will remain in the polka dot jersey for the fourth day in a row.

On the line

“Today was quieter than the other days. We had one of our riders, Connor, who was able to go in the breakaway today. That was one of the objectives of the day with the possibility of a sprint with Nacer, and then, once the breakaway had taken enough time to play for the victory behind, we stayed quiet in the peloton”.

 

“It was difficult in the first part of this stage because it was very windy, the peloton was still nervous. I managed to get into the breakaway, and we were a very strong group. Yvon Ledanois told me to follow Politt and Küng. I follow him in his first attack, but we were caught again. He came out with three other riders, I have no regrets. It was a good experience, I learned a lot and it will be useful for the future”.

Yvon Ledanois, Sport director
“The instructions this morning during the briefing were to put Connor in the breakaway, and he respected them. We told him to target Küng, Politt and Van Moër. Politt attacked on the final and Connor followed him, Küng took some time to close the gap. This could have been the good move that folds the stage. It was Biesseger who made the junction in-extremis, otherwise it wasn’t necessarily the same race. Connor told me that Politt was the strongest even though he managed to bridge up to him to make the gap. I think the strongest rider won today, but it was great to see Connor in a breakaway at the Tour. It was a really good move. I think it’s just a matter of time, Connor has the legs for this Tour de France, and he can be back in front in a few days”.

Riders