Tour de France, Kruijswijk 3rd on Tourmalet uphill finish
Bianchi and Team Jumbo-Visma go on collecting significant displays on the mountains that made Tour de France history. Steven Kruijswijk rode Oltre XR4 to third in Grande Boucle stage 14, 111 km from Tarbes to Tourmalet uphill finish on Saturday, July 20th. Kruijswijk brilliantly performed on the final climb, as well as teammates George Bennett and Laurens De Plus (11th and 13th respectively), finishing six seconds behind French Thibaut Pinot, in the wake of yellow jersey owner Julian Alaphilippe.
Kruijswijk reduced the gap from the GC runner-up Geraint Thomas, who mantained a 12-second advantage. Thanks to time bonus achieved on the Tourmalet, the 32-year-old rider from Neunen strengthened his third position overall ahead of Egan Bernal and Emanuel Buchmann.
Kruijswijk gave Bianchi the eighth podium at 106th Tour de France, including the victories of Mike Teunissen, Wout Van Aert, Dylan Groenewegen and Team Jumbo-Visma in Bruxelles’ TTT.
The bike of Steven Kruijswijk
Steven Kruijswijk is equipped with Oltre XR4, Bianchi’s ultimate aero road racing machine. Engineered with the Bianchi CV system powered by Countervail, developed and tested in cooperation with World Tour Team Jumbo-Visma, Oltre XR4 is designed to maximize the aerodynamic advantage and control.