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In a stage marked by the heat, above 37 degrees, and by the withdrawal of Danish Jakob Fuglsang, the Australian Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) has achieved in Nîmes a task of luxury that has earned him the double in this edition, the first to repeat a visit to the podium as a stage winner.
Atomic triumph of the "Pocket Rocket", 25, explosive in a very competitive sprint in which he won the match against the Italian Elia Viviani and the Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen, with Sagan in fourth position. A victory, like the first in Toulouse, obtained after the rest day in Albi. Expected result in which it marked a time of 3h.57.08, at an average of 44.78 km / hour.
A day of the so-called transition, but of those who punish the body, where the favorites try to save the skin without incident. They did not all succeed. A 27-kilometer drop sent Fuglsang home, another accident hit Geraint Thomas, scared but without consequences and one last struck Nairo Quintana. That came out of the pack.
The furnace in which "La Vuelta a Nimes" became of the sixteenth stage with a course of 177 km, punished the bodies of a platoon that walks towards the Alps with all that there is to solve .
Alaphilippe it's hanging on for the moment in the yellow jersey, keeping its strength for the mountain. Geraint Thomas was 1.35 minutes, the Dutchman Kruijswijk at 1.42, the French idol and national Pinot at 1.50, and the Colombian Egan Bernal closes the "top five" at 2.02.
Mikel Landa follows the seventh and the first Spanish at 4.54. In a video broadcast by Movistar, cyclist Alava appears as Nairo Quintana's "mbadeuse". Good "ride" in the bus of the Spanish team, although sometimes there was "their plus and minus", especially on the road.
"There is a good coexistence, the video has been made outside, to calm critics, I hope it has served something," said Landa.
THOMAS FALLS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OVEN
The cannula forced you to take extra precautions. Over 37 degrees next to the Roman amphitheater of Nîmes, where it melted to give birth to the sculpture of Nimeño II, this local bullfighter idol who took off at 91 years old after being victim of a very serious bad in Arles two years ago.
In France, we are talking about scary temperature records. Out of the heat, the trip was made with Ourselin, Wisniowski, and Lars Bak, Rossetto, accustomed to the "Heat of the Tour of Andalusia" and to Gougeard,
The usual game of mouse and cat started, with a squad offering pictures of survival. The water was the protagonist. Landa said that he had drunk about 15 drums on the stage. The Spanish team has prepared 400 bottles for the day.
Alaphilippe he comforted himself by putting bags of ice on his neck, others throwing water through the cavities of the helmet, like a shower, and the spectators threw a hand throwing water in the hallways.
In a calm walk and flight, Geraint Thomas collapsed in a corner on the right. The winner of the 2018 Tour changed his bike, followed the doctor's "consultation" and returned to the peloton.
Goodbye to Fuglsang and double Ewan
There is always something going on in the Tour de FranceTherefore, the word "transition" is not well taken into account in the pack. Jakob Fuglsang landed at 26 goals and was injured on the wrist, directly to the ambulance. The winner of Liège-Bastogne and Dauphine, who was among the favorites, was ninth in the overall standings, since he left the Colombian Rigoberto Urán.
The team was already started under the direction of the men of Jumbo Visma, aspiring Groenewegen, but the Deceuninck also wanted the booty of Nimes for Viviani. While the pieces were set for the sprint, Nairo Quinta was the victim of another fall. The Colombian could walk to the ground and clinch the hook 1 minute after the winner.
Cheetahs were mentioned in Nîmes. The rapier took the Deceuninck with Argentina Richeze as pitcher, Viviani advanced, but the most "bullfighter" was Caleb Ewan, powerful in his victorious pedaling. The Sydney cyclist signed the double and eighth of the season.
he Tour de France Approaching the Alps, at the moment of truth, with a seventeenth stage between Pont du Gard and Gap, 200 km. The summit of La Sentinelle (3a), with the goal of the summit at 10, is the big incentive of the day.
Carlos de Torres, EFE
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