Tour de France: Groenewegen after a long day

Dylan Groenewegen of the Netherlands was the winner in Chartres on Friday of the sprint that concluded the 7th stage of the Tour de France after a long day of transition between Brittany and Beauce.

Groenewegen, winner of the Champs Elysees stage last year at the end of the Tour, was ahead of the two sprinters who had captured the victories since the start, the Colombian Fernando Gaviria (2nd) and the world champion, the Slovak Peter Sagan (3rd).

The Frenchmen Arnaud Démare (4th) and Christophe Laporte (5th) took the accessits on the line installed on a false flat, after 231 kilometers.

The yellow jersey remained the good of the Belgian Greg Van Avermaet, at the top of the standings since last Monday. The Olympic champion gave himself a little extra margin by nibbling for 3 seconds in an intermediate sprint.

"Everyone was more or less appreciative of this step, because it was the first easy day after the stages where we were on the block, and where we did not have time to talk to each other. We were a little more relaxed and we enjoyed this moment, "said" GVA "who confirmed his goal:" Start the pavement stage (Sunday) with the yellow jersey. "

Watched by the boredom

His muffled criticism of the length of the stage ("One wonders if it's really necessary") was shared by Sagan. "It was a boring stage, it was nice, no wind," said the world champion.

In the Tours of the zapping era, the organizers know it, the boredom quickly watches since the race is retransmitted in full. "We are trying to vary as much as possible," replied in advance the director of the Tour Christian Prudhomme who recalls on each occasion the geographical truth of the country: "To the west of the diagonal leading from the Basque Country to Alsace, it does not There is no mountain. "

The peloton was offered a break during this transitional stage, the longest of the Tour. The day was quiet for the Tour favorites. Except for a first acceleration at the start of the race and a heat stroke, less than 100 kilometers from the finish, when several teams (AG2R La Mondiale, Trek, Movistar) suddenly accelerated.

Candidates for the podium, only the Irishman Dan Martin was trapped. But he could come back a few kilometers further. The movement condemned the Frenchman Yoann Offredo, who had set off on a solitary breakaway after 34 kilometers of racing.

Laurent Pichon also set off on an adventure 84 kilometers from the finish. The Frenchman, designated "combative" of the day to the great displeasure of Offredo, ended up paying his loneliness and saw the peloton return to 38 kilometers of Chartres.

Change of generation

In the final, the peloton accelerated only in the last few kilometers. As Groenewegen dominates the sprint, the most powerful in the final flat-deck.

The Dutchman of the Lotto NL team, 25, won the Tour for the second time he participates for the third time. Groenewegen, professional past in 2015, has 31 wins, 10 for the current season.

"I did not have good legs on the first sprints, people said that I was not able to win a stage … Today, the legs have responded well and I have responded to these criticisms" replied the Dutchman.

The arrival highlighted the change of generation in the sprints. Britain's Mark Cavendish (33) and Germany's André Greipel (35), who for a long time trumped the successes in the Tour sprints, were once again beaten.

Greipel has since competed mainly against the arrival at Sarzeau (3rd of the 4th stage). Cavendish, who has won 30 times in the Great Loop, has never been able to fight for victory. In Chartres, "Cav" signed his best result. But at the … 10th place

Saturday, the 8th stage leads from Dreux to Amiens (181 km). For the sprinters, this is the last opportunity of the week, before the pavement and the mountain.

For Greipel and Cavendish, but also the German Marcel Kittel (far from his success of last year when he had won five stages) and the "regional" Arnaud Démare, it's already time for redemption.

13/07/2018 19:56:56 –
Chartres (AFP) –
© 2018 AFP