By the end of stage 17 of this year’s Tour de France, just eight of the 23 teams had scored at least one stage win and the fight to make it into the break of the day was growing ever more fraught as a consequence.
For Basque veteran Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), due to retire at the end of the season, his squad’s constant pushing for a still-elusive victory was helping keep him on his toes, right through to the end of the race.
As Izagirre, 37, told Cyclingnews, the team was exclusively concentrated on getting a stage win in a sprint or a break, but the opportunities for the latter in particular have rarely been so scarce.
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“I’m still focused, at the end of the day, we’ve still got those goals here in the Tour, in my case it’s about getting in the breaks. And that goes both for myself and the teammates.
“But it’s not been easy for anybody; this Tour has been very hot and very difficult with very few breaks,” pointed out Izagirre, who raced his first Tour of 12 back in 2013, and has wins in all three Grand Tours – the first a stage of the Giro back in 2012 in the third week.
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“Just three have made it to the finish so far and it’s not ideal for us, particularly because we brought a team specifically for breaks and sprints.”
Izagirre said that with so much still to play for, even if there were only four days left to go, and even if he had much more to see in the rear view mirror than he does ahead in terms of his professional career.
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“I’m not yet thinking that this is the last time in the Tour de France, I’ll have time to get used to that idea. There’s no time for nostalgia.
“I’ve always been somebody who simply looks at where they are without thinking too much about what else is out there. And right now I’m in the Tour and this is my last big race, just taking it on the day by day.
“Maybe when I come to see the race next year in the Pyrenees with my family, I’ll miss it. But not now.”
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His family have been with him on the race, too, but only at the start in Catalunya for now.
“They were there in Tarragona and in the Grand Départ in Barcelona, too,” Izagirre says good humouredly, “and my wife will come to Paris, too, to say goodbye to the Eiffel Tower.”
And after that? While it is possible that he will do the Vuelta a España in September, and despite a very strong season so far including a victory on home soil in the GP Miguel Indurain, there is no truth in the rumour, he said, that he’ll go on to race in Euskatel Euskadi in 2027.
“Everything’s signed off, my promise is made,” confirmed Izagirre, set to end his racing career in a small cyclo-cross race this winter near his home in the Basque Country.
Meantime there’s the possibility of a breakaway on stage 18 to Orcières-Merlette, but that will almost definitely be the last-chance saloon for Izagirre in the Tour. Come the two stages to Alpe d’Huez, he has a realistic outlook on what can and can’t be done, while Sunday’s stage will be dedicated to working for teammates.
“For sure I’ll be in the gruppetto, right at the back of the race. These Alpe d’Huez stages are for the GC guys, although we’ll do what we can, and Paris is a good chance for [Cofidis sprinter] Alex Aranburu. Alpe d’Huez is something I’ll just try to enjoy.”
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