Racing
'One of the best days of my career'
Magnus Cort goes on solo breakaway in front of his home crowd to extent lead in KOM jersey.
July 3, 2022
Danes had one of their own to cheer for today. On the final day of the Tour’s visit to Denmark, Magnus Cort broke away solo in the King of the Mountains jersey.
For 150 kilometres, he was alone in front of the peloton, wearing his red-and-white polka dot shirt and spurred on by the cheers of hundreds of thousands of his country’s women, men, and kids. The entire 182-kilometre race course, which travelled south from Vejle along the Jutland coast to Sonderberg, was lined with people, who spent the whole day picnicking, waving red-and-white flags, and writing Magnus’s name on their roads. When he passed, it was as if the whole country was cheering him on.
“It was one of the best days of my career,” Magnus said afterwards. “This is a day that I will remember forever. Being out there alone with all of those people, the Danish flags, was truly something special. It was really a lot of fun and I enjoyed it a lot.”
On the way, Magnus strengthened his lead in the climbers' competition. He earned all of today’s points. Sprinting for them from a break was always part of his plan, but he never expected to go it alone. Once he was away, he had the whole crowd to himself.
“I couldn’t get bored out there with all the people cheering me on,” Magnus said. “I’d never been on a solo break like that. It was a huge day out. There was a lot of wind, but a crowd like that gives you energy. It’s been unbelievable, these last three days in Denmark. I never imagined it would be this big. It seems like a lot of the Danish spectators are very happy to have been visited by the Tour.”
They have a new bike racing hero in Magnus. Our team bus was surrounded by Danes, chanting his name, when he got back from the podium celebration. Magnus tossed some young kids his flowers and signed a lot of autographs, before jumping in a van to the airport. Tonight, our team flies to France. After tomorrow’s rest day, the Tour will restart on home soil. Magnus is tired after today’s effort, but after a day spent mostly in bed, will give his all to hold on to the polka dot jersey for as long as he can.
“It’s always huge to do something in the Tour,” Magnus says. “To be two days in the break and be in the mountain’s jersey in Denmark, it’s been a dream for me.”
Magnus will keep dreaming. The Tour de France is just getting started.