{"id":735430,"date":"2026-06-14T05:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T05:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/735430\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T05:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T05:52:09","slug":"i-gave-absolutely-everything-that-climb-was-a-real-ordeal-luke-tuckwell-survives-grand-colombier-test-to-retain-yellow-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/735430\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI gave absolutely everything, that climb was a real ordeal\u201d: Luke Tuckwell survives Grand Colombier test to retain yellow jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nHe crossed the finish line in 11th place, 2 minutes and 33 seconds behind stage winner Isaac del Toro<\/a>, but retained the overall lead by 42 seconds over Matteo Jorgenson and 49 seconds over Del Toro.\u201cThe objective today was to give everything and use my comfortable advantage to keep the jersey,\u201d Tuckwell said after the stage<\/a>. \u201cIt was an extremely difficult day and that climb was a real ordeal, so I\u2019m very happy that I managed to keep the jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Australian was climbing the Grand Colombier for the first time and relied on pacing himself rather than reacting to attacks from his rivals. \u201cIt was the first time I had ever ridden that climb. I didn\u2019t know it at all,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut I was able to manage my effort at my own pace from start to finish. I didn\u2019t need to respond to attacks, I could simply ride my own tempo.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the climb wore on, Tuckwell admitted he was suffering heavily and feared his overall lead might disappear. A message from a roadside spectator, however, helped him find one final effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really suffered in the middle of the climb,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought it was going to be very close. Then, with about one and a half kilometres to go, someone at the side of the road told me I still had a one-minute advantage. That was exactly the motivation I needed, especially because I had taken out my earpiece. From that point on, I gave absolutely everything to the finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

Luke Tuckwell during the prologue of the 2026 Tour Down Under<\/p>\n

One final test awaits<\/p>\n

With only one stage remaining, Tuckwell remains in possession of the yellow jersey, although the gaps have narrowed considerably after the Grand Colombier showdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see tomorrow if I can keep the jersey until the end,\u201d he said. \u201cAnother completely crazy day awaits us, so I\u2019m going to recover as much as possible and fight to defend it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Australian also stressed that he is still learning during his first professional season and views the final stage as another valuable experience for him to continue developing. \u201cIt\u2019s my first season as a professional. I\u2019m still discovering where my limits are and the areas where I need to improve,\u201d Tuckwell said. \u201cTomorrow will be new territory for me again, with new climbs. I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" He crossed the finish line in 11th place, 2 minutes and 33 seconds behind stage winner Isaac…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":735431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,93896,355514,39733,85,349056],"class_list":["post-735430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-isaac-del-toro","tag-luke-tuckwell","tag-red-bull-bora-hansgrohe","tag-sports","tag-tour-auvergne-rhone-alpes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=735430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/735431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=735430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=735430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=735430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}