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The entry into the Alps coincided with the first French success: Julian Alaphilippe won the 10th stage of the Tour de France, Tuesday at Grand-Bornand where the Belgian Greg Van Avermaet extended his lease with the yellow jersey. 19659002] Alaphilippe (Quick Step), who inherited the polka dot jersey for the best climber, signed his first victory in the Tour, which had several successes in 2016 in his debut. At the age of 26, the Montluçon puncher finally reached the goal, three months after winning his first clbadic, the Flèche Wallonne.
The first of the three alpine stages, the day after the day of rest, left the gaps unchanged between most favorites. Except for the big loser of the day, the Colombian Rigoberto Uran, Chris Froome's dolphin last year in the Tour.
Uran, covered with bandages after his fall Sunday on the pavements of the stage of Roubaix, let go on the top of the col de la Colombière, the last ascent of the day. He finally gave up more than two and a half minutes to his direct opponents.
Other outsiders also fell when the pace was revived by the teammates of Froome in the last hectometres of the Colombière. Poland's Rafal Majka, Russia's Ilnur Zakarin, Luxembourg's Bob Jungels and Dutchman Bauke Mollema limited the scoring to around 50 seconds
"I do not have words to go get a victory on the Tour de France It was a dream for me, I realized it today, with the extra way, I have everything that mixes in my head, the work to get there, the family I think of them and I I'm happy, "reacted Alaphilippe after the line.
– The Van Avermaet Notch –
"I knew it was a stage where, if I wanted to win, I had to be in breakaway, I was a little nervous at first, it did not want to go out and I was doing a bit too much, "said the Frenchman.
"I gave everything in the end, I drew deep inside myself, I put my guts on the table," admitted Alaphilippe who preceded by more than a minute and a half l Spain's Ion Izagirre and Estonian Rein Taaramae, after 158.5 kilometers
In this stage scheduled for the day after the day of rest, the survivors of the 21-run breakaway launched in the first half hour tackled the rise of Romme with six minutes in advance
Taaramae was joined at the approach of the summit by Alaphilippe while the favorites did not try to decide on this steep slope.
In the Colombière , last fix of the day, "Alafpolak" (his nickname on Twitter) widened the gap to tip to the top with a margin of a minute and a half. The last 14.5 kilometers, downhill for the most part, were only a formality for whoever is one of the best descenders of the pack.
In his desire to defend his yellow jersey, Van Avermaet had the guts to mingle with the breakaway of the day, following the same tactics as in 2016 in the Pyrenees, during the stage of the lake Payolle .
The Rio Olympic champion dropped in the Romme pbad but crossed the line, well before the first peloton with most of the favorites.
"I have good legs again, I'm very happy to my race ", congratulated the Belgian (4th of the stage) who took to 2 min 22 sec his lead over the Welsh Geraint Thomas.
Wednesday, second of three alpine acts. The 11th stage, collected 108.5 kilometers between Albertville and La Rosière, alternates climbs and descents to conclude on the slopes of the Petit-Saint-Bernard pbad.
jm / jde
the 10th stage of the Tour de France,
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