Tour de France: Geschke praises German Tour line-up

At the halfway point of the Tour de France, professional cyclist Simon Geschke summarises the German mini line-up with satisfaction. "Second and third at the Tour are not bad results," the 37-year-old told the German Press Agency. "With seven starters from Germany, it will definitely be difficult to win a stage," he noted.

Simon Geschke on the successes of German riders at the Tour de France in the past

The successes so far: mountain specialist Zimmermann finished second on Tuesday, narrowly missing out on the stage win after an exhausting stage in the heat. Sprinter Phil Bauhaus finished third on Wednesday behind the strong winner Jasper Philipsen. The rider from Bocholt had already taken second place on the third stage and third place a day later. "Maybe we've been a bit spoilt in recent years with Marcel Kittel and André Greipel, who have won three or four stages or even more every year," said Geschke.

Geschke's tour: He does not give himself a good interim report. "Personally, of course, I can't draw a good conclusion yet, because I more or less just rode along and fulfilled my duties as a helper." So far, the man from Freiburg, who wants to end his career next year, has not managed more than a 62nd place on the stage. "Maybe that will change a bit, we'll see," he added. Last year, he surprisingly wore the mountain jersey for nine days.

Outliers with good cards

The next stage: On the twelfth stage this Thursday, breakaways are likely to have good chances. The greatest hopes for a good placing lie with climber Zimmermann. The 25-year-old showed in his missed stage win how well he likes breakaway stages. The section in Roanne starts off rather undulating before becoming significantly more demanding in the second part. Two second category climbs have to be tackled on the last 50 of the 168.8 kilometres.

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