Tour du Jura: Burke finishes 4th in GC

The race started on Saturday with a lot of altitude meters in the surroundings of Lavans-les-St.Claude. In a 148 kilometers long stage, Leopard's Colin Heiderscheid was part of the break of seven which gained about 2'30" advantage to the pack. When the pace in the front group went too high, our 21-year-old had to let them go and waited for Jack Burke who attacked from the peloton. Unfortunately this attempt was not succesfull, the same goes for Misch Leyder's and Szymon Rekita's attacks not long after. In the end, it was Belgian Kobe Goossens who took the stage with over a minute lead to the chasers. Szymon Rekita and Jack Burke were both part of the big chasing group finishing at 1'25.

With three tough climbs in the closing stage on Sunday, everything was still to play for. Early in the stage Szymon Rekita and Misch Leyder crashed out of the race that had turned into a war zone at the front. A dangerous group went up the road, to which Jack Burke succesfully bridged. A group of nine leaders was formed and went on in the pouring rain, something the Leopard Canadian likes. He attacked later on to try and win the stage, but it were two fellow attackers who managed to stay clear. Jack Burke crossed the line in sixth position, improving his final GC position to fourth. In the bunch, Pit Leyder sprinted to a satisfying eleventh position.

Jack Burke: "This weekend at Tour du Jura, it was the first time this season that my growth as a more complete rider has shown in results. It’s still a long way from where I know I’m capable of being and hope to be in the coming races but the proof of progress is a huge confidence booster. Since the European style of racing is so new and foreign to me that instead of planning with goals and objectives I’ve been more reactive and like a sponge just soaking up and learning as much as I can each race. That’s been fantastic and I’ve learned so much this season. Let's see what the near future brings."

Gregor Willwohl: "Since Szymon performed really well at Tour du Jura last year, we were really ambitious before the start. We were aiming for the GC podium, but unfortunately we missed the decisive group in the first stage. We gave a lot of effort to try to take the group back, but this costs us a lot of energy we needed in the final. Still nothing was lost and we had the motivation and plan to change things around and challenge the leader on the second day. Unfortunately Szymon and Misch crashed out of the race early on and it was at that moment when a group attacked. Before the second climb, Jack attacked and bridged to the front, which was exactly like we had planned. We had a good situation coming into the final, with Pit Leyder waiting for his chance in the pack. Jack pulled a lot in front as he was riding for his GC position. In the end, he finishes the race as fourth in the GC, a results that made us happy after all."

Tour du Jura (2.2)
4. Jack Burke (CAN) + 1'02"
60. Pit Leyder (LUX) + 33'08"
74. Colin Heiderscheid (LUX) + 42'48"
75. Gaëtan Pons (LUX) + 44'32"
DNF. Szymon Rekita & Misch Leyder