“Am I actually? Oh my god.” Luke Tuckwell was still in a state of disbelief at the Plateau de Solaison. Delirious from the exertion and flanked by a six-foot marmot with sunglasses, he might well have questioned reality as he was informed that he was officially the runner-up at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
He would soon have to take off and hand over the yellow jersey, and while that’s never the greatest feeling on the final day of a stage race, defeat never tasted so sweet.
