Matt Dinham and Kevin Vermaerke show valiant effort in Tour de France breakaway

Team dsm-firmenich fought hard over the Alps on the queen stage of the Tour de France with Matt Dinham and Kevin Vermaerke infiltrating the day’s breakaway.

Battling a whopping 5,399 vertical metres, the peloton faced Col des Saisies, Cormet de Roselend and the – both longest and highest climb of the race – Col de la Loze. This however did not frighten the guys, with Alex Edmondson and Kevin Vermaerke making a move early in the race. Unfortunately, they were caught back quickly as the pace went up in the peloton which then made the race split up after 15 kilometres. Vermaerke then made the jump to the big group of leaders whilst Matt Dinham fought himself across in the chasing group, which merged with Vermaerke’s group later on in the race.

Riding hard to stay away, the group of leaders kept an advantage of two minutes and 45 seconds over the peloton as they headed to the final mountain of the day – the Col de la Loze. Vermaerke and Dinham showed some valiant efforts, fighting hard as the race split up once again on the highest mountain of this year’s La Grance Boucle. With Gall taking the win ahead, the Team dsm-firmenich duo rode at their own tempo, still having to fight the stinging gradients on the run to the line, while behind, while behind the rest of the guys looked after each other well to make it home safely.

After the race, Matt Dinham said: “It was a really tough day from the start and the pace was really high. On the first climb, we were looking to be in the breakaway and once the first break went clear, I was lucky enough to get across in a second move to join Kevin. From then, it was a battle with a GC battle behind which did not want the break to win the stage. I think the break never really had the chance as some GC guys were in the group and they did not give us more than three minutes. Kevin and I fought really hard together all the way to the finish line.”

Team dsm-firmenich coach Matt Winston added: “We set out a plan today to go for the break with one or two guys. The guys were really sharp at the start and we were in all the moves that were going clear. Matt and Kevin ultimately made it into the breakaway and they did a good job there to get the best result possible. It was not a top result, but I think they can be proud of how they raced the stage looking to the future. It shows these guys can ride in front of the race in week three of a Grand Tour and that is really important. For sure they can build on this.”