Coating: Looking ahead, his mouth opened wide – Nils Palit ran towards his stage victory at the Tour de France. After an attack twelve kilometers from the finish line, his followers were no longer able to capture the Germans. Realizing this, Polit slapped his helmet with his hand and shook his head. As if he could not believe what was happening. At the end he made a heart with his hands and kissed it with his fingers and pointed to the sky.

Unexpected often occurs: “Winning a tour stage is a dream,” Palit said after his win. After the finish line, a professional from Bora-Hanscro lifted his bike and rubbed his eyes behind his sunglasses. The fact that he was allowed to take part in the escape was due to the injury-related retirement of his teammate and classic expert Peter Sagan. “The fact that Peter Sagan is no more changed our whole tricks,” says Palit: “I felt so good, I tried everything. Winning a tour is the biggest thing you can achieve.”

Results: Palit won the twelfth stage of the 159.4-kilometer stretch from Saint-Paul-Trois-Setox to Names ahead of Spaniard Emanuel Ervity and Harry Sweeney of Australia. Tadej Bokakar defended the yellow jersey. Read the platform report here.

Due to the wind edge: “Today and tomorrow will be a good opportunity for foreigners. The wind blows a spanner in the works, and it becomes very tense. Then it is not for foreigners,” Palit had said before the start – probably because after just 15 kilometers, at that strong crossroads, world champion Julian Albilip and The group of 13 drivers, including German sprinter Andre Grebel, split up, and within twelve kilometers of the go, only Erviti and Sweeney were with the police, with a powerful start and the 27-year-old from Cologne shaking them.

Training level: Polit and Grebel, who have been driving for different teams, have known each other for a long time, and together with Rick Jabal they form a training team around Cologne, whom they affectionately call “training animals.” Grebel, Gorilla, Jabal, Lion and Polit, 1.92 m tall, are the group’s giraffe. “I saw how he grew up,” Grabel said. “He lives 500 meters away from me. We train together every day.” , He deserves to win. “

Good friends, only one attack can separate: Polit got a tip from Grabel on how to deal with the last few kilometers. “He’s a good friend of mine,” Polit said. “We talked about tactics, and he told me: You’re one of the strongest here, you have to try something. It’s very nice that he was there when I won my podium.”

Better than rupee: A stage winner on the Thai tour, German U23 champion in road racing and personal time trials. These are the biggest hits of politics so far. In 2019, the classic expert was very close to winning the Paris-Rupex monument, but lost to Philip Gilbert in the final velotrome. This time the long escape was so successful that Paulit – after Lenard Kamna 2020 – is now the 27th German in history to win the tour. “Cycling is my passion,” the 27-year-old said. In the end he thought of his family, “I’m mostly away because of training camps and races, and now it’s a huge success.”

Waiting for 34: Before the flat level, there were speculations about a sprint finish at Nimes. Britain’s Mark Cavendish may have celebrated his 34th level victory in touring history at mass speed, thus catching record holder Eddie Merkex. But the big final fall was canceled today.

Tomorrow? Cavendish has the next chance. Level 13 stretches over 219.9 km from Nome to Carcassonne. The song is flat, so mass speed in the final is definitely possible. This is the last chance before the Pyrenees.