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Dion Smith, first kiwi to wear the famous Polka Dot Mountain Jersey at the 105th Tour de France 2018.
For a driver who hopes to be noticed, Dion Smith does a good job
The New Zealand cyclist was hard to miss in the Tour de France, after winning the right to wear the famous Le Maillot des montagnes, who is designated for the best climber.
Smith achieved this feat by putting the lone run in the second leg into play and was able to keep the jersey for 24 hours after posting a better time. Kevin Ledanois, Team Fortuneo-Samsic rider, who won a point in the first stage in the team time trial on Monday (NZT).
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It was hard to miss Dion Smith in stage three against the clock, after getting the right to wear the polo-point King of the Mountains
If both riders have the same amount of King of the Mountain s points then their position in the overall standings decides who wears the jersey, while the Wanty Group Gobert de Smith finished 38 seconds behind Team Fortuneo-Samsic in the third stage, and he ended up keeping it because Ledanois did not stick with his team-mates. finished more than two minutes behind
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"Being in a team time trial and having l & # 39; looking weird when I'm in the peas is pretty funny but the fans were amazing and I had incredible support from people here .It was a really cool day, "said Smith, who dragged his team at the other end of the line, 2min 24sec behind the stage winner BMC Racing
New Zealander Dion Smith will wear the King of the Mountains jersey for the second day in a row.
Although his performance was eclipsed by Patrick Bevin, who became the third New Zealand driver to win a stage, Smith said the answer to his own historic achievement, being the first to wear the polka dot jersey, was amazing.
"After the podium, I had about six interviews from different countries and I do not even know half the place where the crew was but it's just huge. This is the most televised cycling event in the world, so it's really crazy to see how much attention is being paid to the Tour. "
" One of my French teammates said that the polka dot jersey is special enough to win in France and everyone sees an iconic jersey.I knew it was huge, but that's only when I got on the podium and that I had all the interviews and that all French fans wanted pictures and signatures, it really opened my eyes. "
Unlike the other three Kiwis of the race, Bevin, Jack Bauer and Tom Scully, he's in a unique situation where he's not part of a World Tour team .. No, Smith is entrusted to Wanty Groupe Gobert, who conc our in the second … The entry of the team to the Tour came through a wildcard and their game plan has always been to make a name in the hope of being spotted.
"It's an iconic jersey to win and it's a massive advertisement for the team." Being one of the smaller teams in the race, we must seize those opportunities. For larger teams, this may be minor for them, but it's huge for us, and for me, it's really a big problem – it was the main reason we're there. gone and it's just a great opportunity because it's great and beneficial to the team. "We do not have runners like [Chris] Froome or [Richie] Gate in our team. We are probably guaranteed a top five in the overall standings, so we have to look for other areas of the Tour where we can advertise and one of ours is in the breakaways because that is 39 is a lot of time for the jersey. go into the break but you do not want the same guy in the break day after day, so we share and choose the days. "
Although Smith is unlikely to hold up the jersey in the mountains, he said that he will not abandon it without a fight.
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