Joe Dombrowski promises to keep chasing Tour de France moves: ‘It was a real war for the breakaway’
American Tour rookie vows to keep hunting breakaway opportunities, 'It would be fun to try to play for the win.'
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GENEVA, Switzerland (VN) — Joe Dombrowski ran out of legs in his first major breakaway effort Sunday at the Tour de France, but promises there is more gas in the tank.
The American Tour rookie fought himself into the big move in stage 9 into the Alps, but couldn’t answer when Bob Jungels (Ag2r-Citroën) powered away for the winning move.
“I was feeling good until I wasn’t,” Dombrowski said Sunday. “In the end I didn’t have the legs to go with the best guys.”
Also read: Dombrowski achieves childhood dream of racing Tour de France
The ever astute Dombrowski said he expects there will be more chances to chase breakaways in this Tour.
“There will be more opportunities for the breakaways, and to be honest, the breakaways are just starting in this Tour,” he said. “We still have most of the Tour ahead of us, and I will look to capitalize on that, and hopefully have some good legs. It would be fun to try to play for the win.”
The 31-year-old on Astana-Qazaqstan punched his Tour ticket this year after missing out on the Tour for several seasons across his career.
Already a veteran of 11 grand tours — seven starts at the Giro d’Italia and four at the Vuelta a España — Dombrowski joined the grand tour stage win club in the 2021 Giro.
He won a stage out of a breakaway there, and promises to keep trying during this Tour.
‘It was a real war for the breakaway today’
Dombrowski said half the peloton was trying to fight into the break Sunday. He powered his way in, joining compatriot Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) in the move.
“It was a real war for the breakaway today,” Dombrowski said. “A lot of people expected the break would make it to the finish. Today we didn’t have so much time ever at one point, and that was due more to who was in the break, with Urán and Van Aert. It was a quality breakaway.”
Dombrowski was popped after Jungels’ initial acceleration, and then rode in a chase group before the main GC pack came past.
Like any breakaway specialist, Dombrowski knows half the battle is getting into the break, and the other half is having the legs to finish it off.
“It’s always good to be there, and if you don’t try, you don’t know,” he said. “Sometimes you have one good day and one bad day. I will keep trying and hopefully we will have a good result.”
