The podium on the Champs-Elysées in Paris crowned the big winners of the Tour de France, from Jonas Vingegaard in his second yellow jersey to Jasper Philipsen for his equally dominant green points jersey win.
Victor Campenaerts was also up there on Sunday night, albeit not in one of the Tour's four famous jerseys. The Lotto-Dstny rider was awarded the super-combativity prize for his work throughout July, an award he said couldn't be compared to anything he's previously achieved in cycling.
The Belgian salvaged the race for his team, which endured a tough Tour with Caleb Ewan leaving the race on stage 13 while Pascal Eenkhoorn and Maxim Van Gils recorded the team's best results with a pair of second places.
"This is very special though. I have been on a World Championships podium [Innsbruck 2018] before, which is also very special. But you can't compare that to this. Absolutely not," Campenaerts told Het Nieuwsblad on Sunday.
"You cross the finish line here and immediately a podium is built up, there will be a live interview that is reportedly broadcast in 190 countries. That cannot be compared to anything else. It's very special."
Campenaerts, who has a Giro d'Italia stage win as well as the World Hour Record – held from April 2019 to August 2022 – said that taking to the podium in Paris to receive his award was a bigger highlight than either.
"Because of the experience of being able to step on the podium at this moment, I would even put this above the World Hour Record," he said. "Next week, I want to look back on it, but in the euphoria of now, it's a very nice moment."
Campenaerts made the breakaway five times during the 21 days of the Tour, including back-to-back on stages 18 and 19 last week, where he won the combativity prize on both days.
He was notable for his role during the former, where he dropped back from the break to help teammate Eenkhoorn bridge across before working for the Dutchman and leading out in the sprint as the break held off the peloton.
He beat out Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Julian Alaphilippse (Soudal-QuickStep), Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën), Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Mathieu Burgaudaeau (TotalEnergies), and Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) to win the prize, which saw voting split 50-50 between fans and a jury.
"I absolutely did not expect this – it was never a goal," Campenaerts said. "It was only after Pascal Eenkhoorn managed to escape the peloton sprint [on stage 18], there was talk that if we could get in the breakaway again, that who knows, I could win the super-combativity prize. Before that, that had never crossed my mind. I am very content."
Lotto-Dstny directeur sportif Mario Aerts told Het Nieuwsblad that Campenaerts "was super motivated every morning" and motivated his teammates throughout the race with his attitude.
"Every day he has a plan in mind, so that's nice. He's been out for a long time and wasn't fully prepared for this Tour but in the Dauphiné we saw that he just had to go with it. I think he's never been better," Aerts said.
"Victor is someone who gets the others involved. It's part teamwork, but above all, he's the instigator who motivates everyone. I think that the fans enjoy it too.
"As Mohorič pointed out in his interview after his stage win, all riders suffer, but Victor handles that very well. Yesterday morning he said: 'I have sore legs but I'm going to try anyway' – look at that mentality."
