Presented by NTT DATA
6: GROENEWEGEN’S MAGIC NUMBER
Dylan Groenewegen claimed in Dijon his 6th Tour de France stage win, the first since he won in Sonderborg on 3 July 2022, 2 years and 1 day ago. He pounced to victory with an impressive kick at 71.0 km/h with 170 metres to go, according to NTT Data. The Dutch rider is also the sixth different winner in the last six sprints in the Tour de France, after Mads Pedersen (last year in Limoges), Jasper Philipsen (Moulins 2023), Jordi Meeus (Paris 2023), Biniam Girmay (Turin 2024) and Mark Cavendish (Saint-Vulbas 2024).
23: GROENEWEGEN, AN ORANJE STAR
Dutch riders are very much used to shining in the Tour de France, with a first stage win in 1936, when Theo Middelkamp triumphed in Grenoble, and a 167th thanks to Dylan Groenewegen in Dijon. The Team Jayco-AlUla sprinter is the first reigning Dutch national champion to win a stage of the Tour de France since Léon van Bon powered to victory in Tours in 2000, 23 years ago.
59: A BLAZING PACE THROUGH THE WIND
The flat roads from Mâcon to Dijon (1,035m of elevation) witnessed an eventful stage due to the 20-km/h crosswinds blowing from the west. Dylan Groenewegen claimed victory after 163.5 km covered at an average of 46.3 km/h. Attempts to build echelons were essential to achieve this high average speed. The peloton momentarily split at km 83, with Dylan Groenewegen and Jasper Philipsen caught behind. For the next 5 kilometres, the first part of the bunch went flying at an average of 59.0 km/h according to the NTT Data trackers!
2: PEDERSEN IS A FIGHTER
On the day after a nasty crash at 62.4 km/h (according to the NTT Data trackers), Mads Pedersen got back on his bike, with several bandages and with an intact fighting spirit. The Dane sped up to 67.6 km/h in the intermediate sprint and went on to collect the most combative rider award for the second time of his career, two years after his successful breakaway towards Saint-Étienne. None of the other riders identified as sprinters in the peloton of the Tour de France 2024 ever collected this award. Wout van Aert, who can do about anything on his bike, is the participant with most combativity awards: 5.
5: EVENEPOEL SHINES IN WHITE
As the best young rider since day 2, Remco Evenepoel has now claimed five white jerseys. He’s still far from Tadej Pogacar’s record of 72 consecutive jerseys from stage 13 of the Tour 2020 until stage 21 of the Tour 2023… But he just needs one more jersey to match Egan Bernal’s run of six days in white before Pogacar’s rise to power. Considering Belgian rising stars, Evenepoel moves past Wout van Aert’s record of 4 consecutive white jerseys in the Tour 2019. The last Belgian youngster with a longer streak is Wilfried Nelissen, with 7 stages in 1993.
24-25: POGACAR MOVES PAST HINAULT AND GETS CLOSE TO ANQUETIL
With a 25th Maillot Jaune, Tadej Pogacar still trails Jonas Vingegaard, who claimed 27 in the last two editions of the Tour de France. But when it comes to the jerseys claimed at 25 years old or less, the Slovenian star is moving up the ladder, one step above Bernard Hinault (24), and matching François Faber’s record (25 days last he leader of the Tours 1909, 1910 and 1911, before the inception of the Maillot Jaune). If he keeps the lead all the way to Nice, Pogacar will have 40 Maillot Jaune… Eddy Merckx had 43 before turning 26. Pogacar is also up to 24 Grand Tour leader jerseys in 2024. One more, and Pogacar will match Jacques Anquetil’s record from 1961 and 1964. Merckx dominates this ranking as well, with 32 jerseys in 1972 (17 Maillot Jaune, 15 Maglia Rosa).
1-2-3: VIVA GIRMAY
Already a stage winner (in Turin, stage 3 of the Tour 2024) and a 3rd place finisher (in Bordeaux, stage 7 of the Tour 2023), Biniam Girmay has now completed his set of top-3 results with a place of 2nd in Dijon. The first African leader of the points standings will wear the green jersey for one more day.
