Tour de France: Geschke makes it to the finish just before the time limit

Tour de France 2023: Simon Geschke finishes last on stage 17

Around 1:20 minutes before the time limit and 44:56 minutes after the Austrian stage winner Felix Gall, the man from Freiburg was the last to cross the finish line at an altitude of 2003 metres in Courchevel. At Geschke's heels was already the so-called broom wagon, which rides behind the last professional cyclist. Anyone who does not keep to the time limit is disqualified.

"A tough day for Simon Geschke, who fought like crazy to keep the time," his French team Cofidis announced on Twitter. Videos on social media showed the 37-year-old lying on the ground, completely exhausted. A few hours earlier, sprinter Phil Bauhaus had dropped out on the 17th Tour de France stage.

>> Results of the Tour de France 2023

Geschke, who will end his professional career next year, is actually regarded as a climber. Last year, he wore the mountain jersey for nine days in the Tour of France. In the current Tour, over 55,000 metres in altitude have to be conquered, with around 5,400 metres on Wednesday alone.

Copyright 2023, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved