"After all, you're looking for the best cyclist in three weeks" - Mike Teunissen in favor of adding irregularities such as gravel and cobblestones in Grand Tours

The mood at Intermarché - Wanty must be through the roof with their Eritrean gem Biniam Girmay at top of the Points classification after two dominant sprint victories. One of the key parts of his sprint train Mike Teunissen, himself a Tour stage winner, thus has to put aside his personal ambitions for the time being. But maybe a chance will present itself during the gravel stage in Troyes - one that should suit the Dutchman.

Teunissen finally also said something about the infamous gravel stage in and around Troyes. "Anything can really happen there. We will have to be very alert there. Maybe we can do our thing, but that remains to be seen. The last hour is fortunately flat gravel. That suits me in any case," he told In de Leiderstrui with a laugh.

Team managers of some of the main GC favourites recently made statements that gravel doesn't have a place at Grand Tours - namedly Soudal - Quick-Step's Patrick Lefevere, who was followed by Visma | Lease a Bike's Richard Plugge. It must be noted that neither Evenepoel nor Vingegaard have very fond memories of gravel and thus their opinions might be a bit biased towards rejection of the dusty roads.

According to Teunissen, gravel is a part of cycling and as such only helps the search for best cyclist - something Teunissen considers the ultimate goal of Tour de France.

"I think that including a gravel stage in the Tour should definitely be possible," he concluded with a reaction to the critical voices that recently arose here and there in the context of the gravel tour. "I think it's nice. After all, you're looking for the best cyclist in three weeks. So there may be some gravel, cobblestones or a lot of wind in it. I have nothing against that. Of course, you don't hope for a lot of falls or flat tires. But on the other hand: that's also part of it a little bit. In any case, I don't mind it, let's put it that way."