"Adam Yates came flying past me. I couldn’t believe my eyes at how fast he was going" - Frank van den Broek recalls sobering moment on Tour de France debut

Frank van den Broek had a Tour de France debut to remember earlier this summer. From his heroics alongside Romain Bardet on the opening stage, to surviving all the way to the final stage in Nice, the 23-year-old of Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL made a good impression.

"I’ve had about three weeks off, and it’s given me time to process everything from this year," reflects the Dutchman on the podcast of viral Canadian Strava KOM hunter, Jack Burke, with discussion quickly turning to that opening stage of the Tour de France where Van den Broek and Bardet held off the peloton to hand the Frenchman his first ever Maillot Jaune.

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"During that first stage, in the heat of the moment, it never occurred to me to overtake Romain," he recalls. "Romain wanted to be in the break—it was his big goal to contend for the win in the first weekend. It was definitely planned, but everything had to fall into place. I think the weather worked in our favour. It was so hot that not everyone wanted to chase us down—UAE Team Emirates, for example, didn’t. That’s why it all came together, I think."

Van den Broek (L) and Bardet (R) celebrating their stage 1 success at the 2024 Tour de France

The nothing quite like the intensity of Tour de France riding though, and his debut there was a real eye-opener for Van den Broek. "Sometimes it’s so fast, and you’re doing your best in a group trying to break away, but the peloton just stays 30 seconds behind the entire time," he explains, recalling one moment in particular to illustrate his point. "I was at the front during a mountain stage, and then Adam Yates came flying past me. I couldn’t believe my eyes at how fast he was going."

Nevertheless, there was plenty for the 23-year-old to build upon looking ahead to a 2025 season where nothing set in stone just yet. "We still have to discuss everything—my preparation and my program. I wouldn’t want to change much, to be honest. After last year, there wasn’t a lot that could’ve gone better. I just want to continue progressing the same way," Van den Broek concludes.

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