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The ride of queens in the Alps up to the summit of Alpe d'Huez became a prey for Geraint Thomas. The leader of the British standings beat Tom Dumoulin and Romain Bardet after a last scary step, after an equally spectacular stage. Steven Kruijswijk looked set for a long-time victory, but his seventy (!) Kilometer solo is over in the finals.
The second alpine stage at the top of La Rosière made one thing clear; Sky is on the point in this Tour. Geraint Thomas managed to burn with impressive acceleration in the final stages of the stage victory and the yellow jersey, while reigning champion and chief Chris Froome managed to finish in the footsteps of his (ex ?? ) Lieutenant. The only rider who worried between the Sky duo? Tom Dumoulin. The other favorites – Movistar first – had a touch sensitive yesterday.
However, the competition did not have time to lick the wounds, because today the third and last alpine race was on the program. Over a distance of 175.5 kilometers, the riders had to overcome famous Alpine giants like the Col de la Madeleine and the Col de la Croix de Fer, to arrive at the mythical Alpe d 'Huez. The director of the course, Christian Prudhomme, drops his flag at 12:25, which means that many runners set out
The Col de la Madeleine brings fireworks
In the thirty first kilometers person to separate, so we started with a full pack at the foot of the Col de la Madeleine (25.3 km at 6.2%). This is not for long because because of the high pace, the riders – including the entire sprintersgilde – had to unload in the bushes. But not only speed devils: climbers like Wout Poels and Bauke Mollema could not keep up the high pace.
After six kilometers of climbing, a very luxurious head group formed, with considerable contribution from the Netherlands. With Steven Kruijswijk, his teammate Robert Gesink, Bauke Mollema and Laurens ten Dam, there were initially no less than four compatriots. Especially the presence of Kruijswijk – number six on the stand – was striking. They had the company of taps like Alejandro Valverde, Rafal Majka, Ilnur Zakarin, Julian Alaphilippe and the white jersey Pierre Latour.
photo: Sirotti
Loose platoon, early skimmer Kruijswijk virtual leader
Despite the fact that the cooperation on the front was far from being tainted, the squad – under the command of Sky – lost field on the leading group of more than twenty riders, of which Mollema had already left. At the top, the leaders had a prelude of 2:43, which allowed Kruijswijk to call himself a virtual leader. The maximum number of mountain points was – it is not quite surprising – for the mountain king Alaphilippus.
On the descent of the Madeleine, the duo BORA hansgrohe Majka and Gregor Mühlberger tried to surprise their fellow pilots. The Montvernier laces – characteristics of its dozens of hairpin bends – must be cut first. The Frenchman EF Education-First Drapac came first, for his compatriot Alaphilippe, who again gathered the necessary points.
Kruijswijk with a flight to the glory of the Iron Cross Pass
The advance of Kruijswijk had already passed to three minutes, which meant that the LottoNL-Jumbo leader could secretly hope the writing of the history of Dutch cycling. The sky felt the danger, but the pace developed by Luke Rowe was not high enough to reduce the backlog. Meanwhile, Rolland was driving imperturbable, but in the background he saw riders approaching
Just before the foot of the Pass of the Iron Cross (29 km at 5.2%), Kruijswijk joined the French in his hunt. on The Yellow Jersey . He got in his Valverde track, while a little later also Warren Barguil managed to join all three. However, it was not for long because a jumble of attacks was the result. Kruijswijk was the most active, with yet another acceleration – after reliving Gesink – he managed to drive his dubious fumble 73 kilometers from the wheel
Stoic Brabander continues, ax day for the sprinters [19659009] While the Dutchman had wings on his way to the kilometers, the day of the ax was in the peloton. Dylan Groenewegen, Fernando Gaviria, André Greipel and Fernando Gaviria; One by one, the best sprinters looked for the car of the team leader. Kruijswijk had no message about such concerns; as a real gem, he drove two (!) minutes away from his closest pursuers, while the peloton was driving for over six minutes
It was the signal for AG2R La Mondiale and Movistar – which was already starting to sweat a lot – take charge of the command in the favorite group. The pace has increased, which has proven to be bad for many runners – including Adam Yates. However, the lead of a raging Kruijswijk remained intact; six minutes with another 55 kilometers to go! The emaciated group, where Marc Soler beat for Nairo Quintana, rounded up the Iron Cross more than six minutes later.
Kruijswijk loses plumes in the valley, but regains the pace on the Alp
The real challenge was yet to begin for Kruijswijk; standing in the descent and in the valley for the foot of Alpe d'Huez. The climber first managed to survive surprisingly well: with another 30 kilometers to go, he still had a lead of 5:30 on the group Maillot Jaune .
In the next few kilometers, however, he lost feathers, which allowed him to pay the "Dutch mountain" four minutes earlier than the other favorites. At first, Thomas and Froome trust their lieutenants: the rhythm set by Egan Bernal is too high for Valverde, Zakarin and Bob Jungels. Moments later, Daniel Martin also held his breath
photo: Sirotti
Sky relieves the competition, Kruiswijk feels the breath of Bardet
Kruijswijk regains his climbing rates, which leaves his advance fluctuate above three minutes. The favorites stayed together for a long time, until the moment Vincenzo Nibali accelerated to ten kilometers from the finish. The Italian, like Quintana a little later, had no room for a fantastic Bernal. Due to the tempo changes, however, Kruijswijk is losing more and more ground: 2:15 with only 7 kilometers to go
Thomas takes the lead of Froome
A gap that goes even further, then seven kilometers from the top Landa decided to throw the bat into the henhouse. It was given to Romain Bardet, who immediately left Bask with a new surge. Meanwhile, Quintana was shooting less well. The Colombian goat had to pay for its effort and saw the yellow jersey become smaller and smaller.
His young compatriot Bernal gave the Pipe to Maarten five kilometers from the line, after which Thomas took the pace. It did not last long, because with four kilometers to go, Froome turned on the turbo, and continued Bardet again and again. And all this only half a minute behind Kruijswijk, who was at the end of his Latin. A few hundred meters later, the song of the rider LottoNL-Jumbo was sung
photo: Sirotti
Dumoulin turns out to be a strong man, but Thomas wins
But the drama does not come into play. was not yet unexpected, because Dumoulin proved to have an excellent course. In time trial mode, he managed to close the gap with a slightly suffocating Froome, and took Thomas and Bardet with him. What followed was a climb up, which allowed Landa to reconnect. But not for long, because Bardet shot again. The other favorites, however, closed again.
This was the signal for Dumoulin to shake the tree. With an impressive acceleration, he even managed to unload Froome and Bardet, but Thomas stuck to his rear wheel like a piece of chewing gum. Because of this, we went with five matadors – Landa was connected again – in the last kilometer. It's Landa who started the sprint, but it's Thomas who, with an impressive sprint, has managed to pull his competitors out of the wheel.
By his second victory in a row, the Briton is a little more convincing in this Tour. Froome and Dumoulin remain the closest challengers, but now follow at 1:39 and 1:50 respectively.
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