Top Banana: Tour de France 2018 stage 10 – Luke Rowe

Top Banana: Tour de France 2018 stage 10 – Luke Rowe

Who expected lanky Luke Rowe to lead the bunch over two big climbs? Respect to last year’s lanterne rouge for a real rouleur’s ride

Luke Rowe Racing Top Banana Tour de France 2018

Luke Rowe is 6 ft 3 of lanky muscle, a cobbles gobbler who lives for the chaos of the one-day Classics. He was lanterne rouge at the Tour de France last year. Guys like him belong in the gruppetto, counting down the kilometres of climbing and the mountain stages. Right? 

Wrong. On stage 10 of the 2018 Tour de France, over four categorised Alpine climbs between Annecy and Le Grand-Bornand, Luke Rowe showed what a rouleur he is. He paced the Sky-led peloton to the top of the Plateau des Glières, the race’s first Hors-Catégorie climb, his pace dropping a fair few riders.

We had to rub our eyes to make sure it was him up front on the 10 per cent gradients. Maybe the thought of those few kilometres of gravel at the summit kept him motivated. 

And then he kept going over another climb and along the valley. He was on the front for almost 100 kilometres, until the foot of the day’s penultimate climb, the Col de Romme. Froome and Thomas’ other footmen could put their cleats up in his significant slipstream.

Read: Top Banana La Course 2018 – Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig

As a rouleur – and we here at Rouleur like to think we know what we’re talking about – it doesn’t get much better than that. Rowe was in his element helping his leaders on the cobbles of northern France on Sunday, yet did the lion’s share in the Alps today too. Presumably, the man from Cardiff had an airdrop of Welsh cakes on the rest day. His stirring comeback continues apace after breaking his leg on a stag do last summer.

Rowe’s fine ride rather flew under the radar, with the yellow jersey up the road. It was another unusual sight: who would have thought Greg van Avermaet would increase his lead today?

One wonders why Team Sky’s various rivals did not raise the pace to tire out Rowe and force their other domestiques to work earlier. Well, the Tour is a marathon, not a sprint. But they ought to be worried: if Rowe can pull off that mountain ride, just how well are their climbing domestiques going?

The Rouleur Top Banana goes to an unsung hero of each stage of the Tour de France – not the winner, not the yellow jersey – but a rider whose efforts deserve recognition

Tour de France 2018, Rouleur Top Bananas:

Stage 1 – Yoann Offredo

Stage 2 – Lawson Craddock

Stage 3 – Tejay van Garderen

Stage 4 – Guillaume van Keirsbulck
Stage 5 – Toms Skujins

Stage 6 – Antwan Tolhoek
Stage 7 – An empty field

Stage 8 – Fabian Grellier

Stage 9 – Oliver Naesen

La Course -Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig

 

The post Top Banana: Tour de France 2018 stage 10 – Luke Rowe appeared first on The world's finest cycling magazine.

Luke Rowe Racing Top Banana Tour de France 2018


READ MORE

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot only knows how to win – and the Tour de France Femmes is her latest target: ‘I want to be the best’

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot only knows how to win – and the Tour de France Femmes is her latest target: ‘I want to be the best’

The Frenchwoman returns to road racing with Visma-Lease a Bike in 2025, and her home race is at the top of her wish list

Leer más
‘Volunteers are the backbone of the sport’ - Carole Leigh on a lifetime of service to bike racing

‘Volunteers are the backbone of the sport’ - Carole Leigh on a lifetime of service to bike racing

The British woman has organised and officiated bike races since she was a teenager and hopes more people will follow in her footsteps

Leer más
Olav Kooij and the quest to be the fastest man in the world

Olav Kooij and the quest to be the fastest man in the world

The Dutchman is confident in the fact that he’s on the cusp of being the sport’s best current sprinter

Leer más
Josh Tarling and the pursuit of perfection: ‘I hope my peak will start next year’

Josh Tarling and the pursuit of perfection: ‘I hope my peak will start next year’

The 20-year-old Ineos Grenadiers rider on learnings from the racing season, managing adult life, and setting achievable goals

Leer más
Laurence Pithie: I want to challenge Van der Poel for Monument wins next year

Laurence Pithie: I want to challenge Van der Poel for Monument wins next year

The New Zealand rider talks about his journey to the top of the sport, moving to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and his ambitions to start to win...

Leer más

MEMBERSHIP

JOIN ROULEUR TODAY

Independent journalism, award winning content, exclusive perks.

Banner Image