‘I wanted to enjoy myself’: Baptiste Veistroffer shares the stats behind his 144km Tour de France solo break

Yesterday’s stage 5 was the first sprint stage of this Tour de France, and a welcome reprieve for the GC hopefuls and breakaway specialists after a hard, sweltering start to the race. There seemed to be a consensus that the day would be left to the sprint teams. But Lotto-Intermarché’s Baptiste Veistroffer had a different idea. 

The Frenchman sprinted away from the peloton as soon as Christian Prudhomme waved his flag and found himself up the long straight road from Lannemezan alone. And so it was for a grand total of 144km until the peloton reeled him in before a crash-ridden sprint that was won by Decathlon CMA CGM’s Olav Kooij.

After the stage, Veistroffer said: “I wanted to enjoy myself, and that’s exactly what I did right from the start, at kilometre 0. I thought it through, and then I went for it.”

The feat earned Veistroffer the most aggressive rider award and an appearance on the podium. “It’s a dream for any cyclist to stand on the Tour podium – for the pros, for the amateurs… There’s nothing better, so I’m really proud today,” he said. 

So how did he do it? Veistroffer’s Strava gives an insight into the 26-year-old’s feat. According to his account, Veistroffer averaged 44.1km over 162.97km. His average power was 323W and his weighted average power was 343W. 

Meanwhile, his top speed was 89.8kph and he hit a maximum power of 1,358W, according to data captured by his Garmin Edge 850.

Along the way, Veistroffer earned the Coup de cul Montesquiou KOM and several top 10s. 

His solo breakaway attack just surpassed Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen and his 141km solo attack on stage 8 of the 2024 Tour de France from Semur-en-Auxois to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises. 

Veistroffer’s attempt, conducted on his Orbea Orca Aero, fell victim to the breakaway’s extremely narrow chance of success. The last rider to win a stage from a solo break of over 100km was Christophe Agnolutto in 2000, where the Frenchman held off the peloton after a 120km attack. 

Lotto-Intermarché’s sprinter Arnaud De Lie abandoned the Tour de France after stage 3, potentially liberating Veistroffer to go on the attack yesterday. Veistroffer has also developed a habit of getting in the break this season, so could this be the beginning of a Victor Campenaerts-style Tour de France?

“Given how fit I am, I might have to be a bit more selective because there’s a chance to achieve something really good,” Veistroffer said.