Tour de France
“I’m not celebrating that now”: professional cyclist Kämna lets ARD reporters run up in an interview
Exhausted, tense and annoyed by the questions from the ARD reporter Michael Antwerpes (left): Lennard Kämna after the tenth stage of the tour
©ARD
Lennard Kämna just missed out on the yellow jersey at the Tour de France. At the finish he had to answer questions from ARD reporter Michael Antwerpes – and reacted rudely.
Lennard Kämna showed a strong performance on the tenth stage of the Tour de France. For a long time, the professional cyclist from the Bora-hansgrohe team kept close to the breakaway Luis Leon Sanchez with a chasing group. Even the yellow jersey of the overall leader was within reach for the 25-year-old. When he arrived at the finish line, he had to wait and see how far back the previous yellow card holder, Tagej Pogacar, would finish.
While he was still hanging between hope and fear, Kämna was already being interviewed by ARD reporter Michael Antwerpes – and the journalist is almost trying to talk the driver into the yellow jersey. “It looks like it could end well today,” enthused Antwerpes and speculated that Kämna could contest the next stage in the yellow jersey. However, the professional cyclist was not very enthusiastic about it, initially reacted in monosyllables and finally rejected the reporter brusquely: “I’m not celebrating that now.”
Tour de France: Lennard Kämna narrowly misses the lead
“Don’t get my hopes up for something that won’t happen in the end,” said Kämna. Antwerpes tried to save the situation: “He remains modest, that also honors him. Of course you only have to celebrate when the time comes.” In the end, Kämna was right with his skepticism. Last year’s winner Pogacar picked up the pace again and finished 8:32 minutes behind the German.
Lennard Kämna was eleven seconds behind in the overall standings and his dream of getting yellow was shattered. A small, spontaneous curse crept over the lips of the driver, but a little later he became combative again: “I’m not giving up. I’ll definitely have to fight a bit now, because the day cost a lot of energy. I’ll try like this stay tuned for as long as possible.”
Kämna’s next chances of an attack in the Tour of France are on the following stages over the Col du Galibier on Wednesday and on the legendary climb to Alpe d’Huez on Thursday.
Sources: ARD / DPA