Luke Tuckwell dedicates yellow jersey to late sister after stunning Dauphiné takeover

A group of around 60 riders went clear almost from the start, catching several teams off guard and forcing Decathlon CMA CGM into a long chase behind. Tuckwell was the best placed rider on general classification in the move and eventually gained enough time to take the overall lead.

“Yeah, I mean, we couldn’t quite believe it either,” Tuckwell said at the finish to CyclingPro.net. “We were actually expecting the breakaway to have a really big fight, like the other day where it took an hour and a half. Then this really big group went.”

The Australian said he reacted when he saw riders from Uno-X Mobility trying to get across, remembering how aggressive the Norwegian team had been at the Tour of the Basque Country.

“I saw a few Uno X guys jumping as well, and I remember what they did in Basque Country on the final day,” he said. “I was there and I was suffering, so I saw this as a good opportunity to jump across.”

Once the move formed, Tuckwell quickly realised the situation could become far more significant than a stage hunt. He was only around a minute down on GC at the start of the day, but tried not to spend too much energy thinking about yellow too early.

“I knew pretty quickly that I was the closest on GC in the group,” he said. “But I tried not to think about it and spend too much energy thinking about it.”

That changed on the long valley road before the final climbs, where the front group extended its advantage as a strong mix of climbers and rouleurs worked together.

“They just absolutely ripped it,” Tuckwell said. “The gap went from two and a half to three, to three and a half, and then I started to think about it. But not until we got to the final climb with four minutes, I thought: right, now I just do a time trial from the bottom to the top.”

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe had two cards to play in the finale, with Van Gils attacking up the road while Tuckwell managed his own GC position behind. The strategy carried some risk, but Tuckwell said the team always trusted the situation.

“I think we both knew how strong we were,” he said. “The situation played perfectly. He was able to go with Johannessen and Torres, and they were attacking each other, hopefully using some energy. Then I saw the right moment to jump across.”

Once Tuckwell bridged to the front, the team’s priority became clear. Van Gils had the faster finish, and Tuckwell committed himself to setting up the Belgian.

“From that moment, I know how good of a sprint Maxim has,” Tuckwell said. “So it was an easy decision to just ride all the way to the finish for him.”

Van Gils finished off the job, taking the stage win ahead of Tobias Halland Johannessen, while Tuckwell’s ride earned him the biggest result of his young career. In his first season as a professional, the Australian now leads one of the sport’s biggest Tour de France warm up races.

That opportunity has put him in yellow with two stages remaining, 2:35 ahead of Matteo Jorgenson and 3:06 clear of Paul Seixas, the first of the established GC contenders. Tuckwell acknowledged the advantage gives him a strong position, though he stopped short of declaring himself a contender for overall victory.

“It sets me up really well,” he said. “I’ll have to see how much faster they went up that climb than me today, and then I can reassess where my level is. But for sure, with two days to go, it’s a really nice advantage.”

Tuckwell said he had not come to the race chasing a result, but with encouragement from his sports director to race freely.

“I came into this race not looking to get any results and just have fun really,” he said. “I spoke with my DS before this week and he said: mate, just have fun and enjoy it, try something crazy, and if something crazy happens, that’s a great opportunity.”

The “something crazy” became a first yellow jersey and a result with meaning beyond the standings. Tuckwell’s sister died last September aged 19 after a long battle with chronic illness, and he said her memory stayed with him throughout the stage.

“All day I was thinking about my sister,” Tuckwell said. “I really wanted to do it for her. The final kilometres were really hard, but I was thinking about her. This yellow jersey is in honour of her.”

The jersey itself may also be getting special treatment.

“I might sleep with it tonight actually,” Tuckwell said. “I’m just going to enjoy it, to be honest. It’s once in a lifetime almost.”