Some days in the bike race it’s just about getting through. After a crash on stage 6 that left him feeling pretty banged up, Joey Rosskopf had one of those stages today.
“I got a little better as the day went on, but my chest and ribs are sore from the crash yesterday so any hard efforts are pretty costly.”
Unable to make the sort of efforts that got him into the escape on stage 1, Rosskopf threw himself into assisting his teammates in other ways; coming back to the car to fetch bottles and food.
“It’s far from ideal because we wanted all hands on deck to try to make it into that breakaway – as we’ve done nearly every other stage. I was definitely not capable of helping with that first objective, so the least I could do was help fetch water and food.”
The team’s time in Britain has been successful on the bike and off, with a partnership with UnitedHealthcare Global which has seen the company’s staff and customers around the UK engaging with the Tour of Britain and supporting Rally Cycling through all seven stages.
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- Bottle duties
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- The handoff
The company challenged its customers and employees to ride a mile for every stage of the Tour of Britain, emphasizing the value of just a small amount of movement for our overall wellbeing. Not only that, members of the UnitedHealthcare Global family have been at the roadside cheering on the riders wherever they can.
“It’s been great to have them come out and cheer us on during the race,” said Rosskopf. “They’re part of our team and it’s a nice lift when you can meet new fans and get people riding bikes.”
The team would like to thank all of UnitedHealthcare Global’s staff and customers who have shown their support throughout the Tour of Britain.
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- Teammates
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- A few souvenirs
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- In the bunch
General classification after stage 7
1 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 27:34:32
2 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:04
3 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:21
4 Mikkel Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:35
5 Michael Woods (Can) Israel Start-up Nation 0:00:54
6 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:08
7 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-up Nation 0:01:10
8 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:37
9 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM 0:01:58
10 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers 0:02:01
17 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally Cycling 0:02:52
Stage 8 of the Tour of Britain kicks off on Sunday at 5:30 am EDT, with television pictures on GCN+ from 8 am EDT.
