ProTeam 500 stages in a Grand Tour for Thomas De Gendt: “It’s the adventure that makes it so special.”
In Madrid, he will truly call it quits. Thomas De Gendt will bid farewell to the Vuelta and, by extension, any future Grand Tour. Later this season, he will also hang up his bike for good. There were gifts this morning at the start in Villarcayo because the grueling stage toward Picón Blanco marked De Gendt’s 500th stage in a Grand Tour. “And it’s likely the toughest stage I’ve ever done,” De Gendt laughs.
How unique it is to win a stage in a Grand Tour is evident in the statistics. Out of those 500 stages, De Gendt won 5. His first was in the 2012 Giro, that iconic one on the Stelvio. He also won again in the Giro in 2022. In the Tour, he won in 2016 – on Mont Ventoux – and in 2019. In the Vuelta, he won in 2017. “In fact, I only won 1 percent of the stages I started in. All the work, all the preparation, all the training for just one percent success. 99 percent ‘for nothing’ – although, of course, I shouldn’t say it like that. I just want to point out how difficult it is to win a single stage. And I won five. That’s something to be proud of.”
Froome and the Mont Ventoux
De Gendt’s favourite is the one on the Stelvio in the 2012 Giro, where, after a massive solo effort through walls of snow, he could raise his arms in victory for the first time in a Grand Tour. “And there’s one stage that everyone always forgets because someone else stole the headlines that day. It was the stage where Chris Froome had to run up Mont Ventoux without his bike. I won at Chalet Reynard, but that’s not what people remember from that stage (laughs). The 2017 Vuelta will also always stay with me. We won no fewer than four stages as a team, including the 19th in Gijón, which I won. It wasn’t just that stage, but the whole Vuelta that was special. The atmosphere in the team was amazing back then. We won from early breakaways, with three different riders. Those were three fantastic weeks.”
At the end of this Vuelta, De Gendt will have 25 Grand Tours under his belt. A special milestone that De Gendt looks back on with great fondness. “It’s everything. The preparation to begin with, the journey towards it. But also the adventure. Being on the road for three weeks with the same team. The difference between the first and third week, when fatigue sets in. Often surprises happen during a Grand Tour. Early breakaways that stay ahead, riders who suddenly climb well because they’re fresher than others. That’s what makes a three-week Tour so different from a seven-day stage race.”
That beautiful adventure comes to an end tomorrow in Madrid, without a sixth victory. “The level is much higher than before, and I’m no longer improving. Last week, I produced my second-highest ten-minute wattage of 2024, but I was still just in the second group on the climb. In the past, you would break away with such numbers. Today, it’s just enough to be in the second group behind the favorites. Today won’t be the day either – my 500th stage is incredibly tough. Ah well, tomorrow will be my real last stage, the time trial. Then I’ll ride alone and can enjoy it a bit more. I’m looking forward to it, just as I’m looking forward to Monday when I’ll see my wife and kids again.”
Picture: PhotoNews
