The Portuguese cyclist who made his Tour de France debut stated that “the top 20 were not objective.”
Ruben Guerreiro pledged that “the story doesn’t end there,” becoming the seventh Portuguese cyclist to finish in the top 20 Tour de France, choosing the moment of arrival at Campos Elicios as his best debut.
“The goal was not to get into the top 20. The challenge was to get Rigoberto Oran to the podium, ”he began, reminding Luza of his leader at EF Education-Nippo, the“ great runner ”who“ had a day. bad ”and took 10th place in the overall standings.
For a young man from Pegões Velhos (Setubal), his last 18th place, right after his debut in the world’s greatest sprint race, was “the sum of the days he tried to escape and [os outros em que] I tried to be with Rigo. “
“It’s not bad, I’m proud, but I don’t think this story will end there. I am 27 years old, I started cycling relatively recently, and I think I have everything that needs to be improved, and one day, who knows, I could make the “10 best” predicted.
Emphasizing the “very high” level of the runners in the 108th edition of the Tour de France, Ruben Guerreiro was “satisfied” with his performance “after very difficult times” that followed his refusal to participate in the Tour d’Italia due to a fall in the 15th stage, as a result of which two of his ribs are broken.
“The Giro was my goal and I was a little sad that I dropped out because of this because I was so focused last week. It was really difficult to stay focused for a month for the tour because the level of cycling is very high and they were the best in the world here. It turned out to be a very positive performance, “said who was the first Portuguese to win one of the secondary jerseys in the Grand Tour as King of the Hill at Giro2020.
Among the memories that his debut on the Tour gave him, a moment that the Portuguese from EF Education-Nippo will never forget is just the end of the last stage of this issue, which today dedicated Slovenian Tadej Pogakar (UAE Emirates) as the youngest. in Paris race champion.
“The best moment, I think, was today, when I managed to get to the Champs Elysees and leave Magnus Court Nielsen in a good position. I love helping my teammates and it was a really beautiful moment after 21 days of fighting. I can do my job not only in the mountains, and it was really nice. I will always remember that I drove the last kilometer of Campos Elisios before the peloton, ”he confessed to Luce.
The winner of the stage at the Giro 2020, Guerreiro only regrets the “gap” in his participation, which allowed him to replace Rui Costa, Jose Azevedo, Jose Martins, Fernando Mendes, Joaquim Agostinho and Alves Barbosa, other Portuguese, to complete the stage of the Tour in the top twenty.
“Of course, I missed the stage, but not because I didn’t try. I have always tried, but this is a very high level. It was not this year, but I think one day I will achieve it. I will always fight for this, and maybe one day I will stand up in arms at the Tour de France, ”he concluded.