Michael Woods Secures First Tour de France Stage Victory with Iconic Climb
Michael Woods has achieved his long-awaited goal of winning a stage in the Tour de France as he emerged triumphant on the challenging slopes of Puy de Dôme. This marks Israel – Premier Tech’s third Tour de France victory, following two wins last year.
“I’m so happy. Winning a stage in the Tour de France is something I’ve always wanted to do, and talked about doing, but is never something I’ve achieved and I finally did it today,” expressed Woods after his remarkable win.
Recognizing that the mountain top finish was well-suited to him, Woods eagerly joined teammate Guillaume Boivin at the forefront of the race. They were attentive and made sure to join the breakaway when a strong group formed.
Initially, the peloton resisted fiercely, but the breakaway ultimately triumphed and managed to distance the pack.
“The plan today was perfect,” explained Sports Manager Rik Verbrugghe. “We had different scenarios but the ideal was to have Mike and Guillaume in the breakaway, even if everyone could have been there. Today, it all worked out perfectly. I’m so proud of the guys.”
With approximately 45 km remaining, Matteo Jorgenson from Movistar Team launched an attack from the breakaway and created a gap. Despite ending up in a chase group behind, Woods refused to give up. Dancing on the pedals and focused on catching every rider ahead, he launched his assault on securing the stage win. Slowly but steadily, he caught up to each rider, and with 500 meters to go, he overtook Jorgenson and crossed the finish line solo.
“I knew it was going to be difficult to bring back Jorgensen, with him being so strong, but I didn’t really worry about that. I just focused on myself and wanted to go my hardest all the way to the top. It was only with 800 meters to go that I knew I had a shot because I saw him really starting to fade. I’m super happy with how it turned out,” Woods reflected.
Sylvan Adams, the team owner, welcomed Woods back at the team hotel and expressed his joy for the rider’s achievement. “I’m so happy for Mike, as this was the victory that was missing in his palmares. Mike showed us again that he is one of the best climbers in the world. It’s a great feeling to finish the first week of the Tour with a victory. There will be quite a nice celebration at the hotel tonight, and the rest day tomorrow will certainly be festive. And, we have two more weeks to hunt for more success. We won two stages last year. How nice would it be to exceed that lofty result? Due to my long personal relationship with Mike and the other Canadians on our team, I couldn’t be more proud. One of the best days ever for the team. Y’alla!”
