Patrick Konrad claimed a maiden Tour de France victory with a successful long-range attack on a rain-soaked 16th stage, a 169-km mountain trek from Pas de la Casa, Andorra, on Tuesday.
You can rewatch STAGE 16 of 2021 Tour de France HERE
The Bora-hansgrohe rider broke away from a small group 36.5 kilometres from the finish in the day’s last significant climb and never looked back as his chasers reacted too late.
The 29-year-old crossed the line 42 seconds before Sonny Colbrelli, who outsprinted Michael Matthews for second.
“I had already been in the breakaway three times and every time I waited too long,” Konrad said. “I noticed that those who won from the breakaway, Matej Mohoric or Bauke Mollema, attacked far from the finish and I took inspiration from that. I had decided to take the matter into my own hands.”
Konrad is only the third Austrian rider to win a stage on the Tour after Georg Totschnig in 2005, and Max Bulla who won three stages and wore the yellow jersey for a day.
