Tour de France: Zimmermann's trouble in the battle for the mountain jersey

Georg Zimmermann was a few centimetres short of succeeding Simon Geschke at the start of the Tour de France. But the Bavarian lost the most prestigious mountain sprint on the first stage and had to leave the famous white jersey with the red dots to the American Neilson Powless.

Zimmermann's Intermarché team had decided to conquer the mountain jersey before the demanding stage around Bilbao. The rider from Augsburg is now two points behind Powless.

"It was a shame because I simply didn't do my homework. The finish line was covered by the bend and my speedometer showed me that there were still 300 metres to go uphill. But the classification is not always taken at the highest point," said the 25-year-old. "I only saw the line 80 metres before the finish, so I couldn't overtake any more. It's annoying, I would have had it in my legs."

Geschke in the mountain jersey for a long time in 2022

From a German perspective, Simon Geschke last wore the mountain jersey for nine days at the last Tour. The Berlin rider was caught in the classification by the Dane Jonas Vingegaard. However, the 37-year-old was allowed to wear the jersey on his behalf in Paris, as Vingegaard was wearing the yellow jersey.

Zimmermann initially left it open as to whether he would try again on Sunday. "The points are awarded quite early on in the stage, you would have to go into the group. That was no fun today, as the group was only two minutes away," said Zimmermann. He wanted to assess the situation calmly and seek dialogue with his sporting director.

Zimmermann is considered a contender for a stage win among the seven German Tour participants due to his climbing skills. Over 55,000 metres in altitude have to be conquered in this year's Tour of France.

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