Georg Zimmermann had before won a stage at the 2021 Tour de l'Ain, however this afternoon he took the biggest win of his career at the Criterium du Dauphiné. The German puncheur has been left very emotional after crossing the line in a very tough finale.
“Now it's the other way around and I win the sprint. It's really incredible. Speechless, I am. I really can't believe this. I tried everything to be here as possible and it worked. I felt incredibly strong," Zimmermann said in a post-race interview. The Intermarché-Circus-Wanty rider worked his way into the 14-rider breakaway which would go on to fight for the stage win, and then had good legs and good timing in the moments that mattered.
He managed to bridge across to to Jonathan Castroviejo and Mathieu Burgaudeau at the Col des Aravis, but despite struggling in the descent he stayed in the front. He had the legs, and with 1.9 kilometers to go he launched an attack. Burgaudeau was measuring his efforts and attacked over the gap already inside the final kilometer. It seemed to be game over for the German, but after the TotalEnergies' sprint didn't manage to distance him, the table turned once again.
Zimmermann still had a bit of energy in the final few hundred meters and in the run-up to the line he was the one who survived the pace the best. “I am very proud of myself. If this was it, I'm still very happy. But I am motivated for what is to come," he concluded. This comes as a motivating step ahead of the Tour de France where he will make his third appearance.
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