The misadventure of the team leader opens the door to Patrick Bevin at the Tour de France

Richie Door receives care after crashing During the ninth stage of the Tour de France, Patrick Bevin was forced to adjust his game plan for the remainder of the Tour de France after BMC Racing's leader, Richie Door, withdrew from the race on a chaotic ninth step. Bevin controlled the tempo at the front of the pack when he heard through the radio that Porte, a runner that BMC Racing had built their entire team, had broken his collarbone and would retire from the race.

He said it was a big blow for the team. Although another teammate, Greg Van Avermaet, has spent a week in the yellow jersey and is currently leading the overall standings by 43 seconds, he should lose him on the first mountain stage on Tuesday (Wednesday NZT). And it is in the mountains that Door would seem to move.

"It definitely changes the game," said Bevin on the first day of rest of the Tour. "Up to now, the Tour de France has been quite heavy for this team, we have been defending the yellow for a week now and despite everything, it was a successful lap, but it is difficult to lose your GC before To reach First mountain

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"It's a strange thing to hear when you've built your entire Tour around # 39; a guy to then stop him. There is a moment where you think dude, we put some resources in there. but then you have to change it on the fly. We always had the yellow jersey and a guy who was in the loop to win the stage, so you have to adjust and it keeps going and you just have to play with the cards that are dealt to you. "

But Door 's misfortune could open the door to Bevin for a stage victory, the individual time trial of stage 20 being his best opportunity.Bevin has already scored a win from Step, after the BMC Racing team triumphed against the clock.

"It's an option for sure. For me, it's my big goal at the back of this race. Obviously, you do not recover the energy that you have already used, so you start a little late and it's a very hard time trial, but I think I'll watch the last two weeks for the steps.

"You never know what's going on in the other stages, with the way the breaks begin to play, and it's rare that we do not see the breaks for the Tour win."

Door was not the only one to have experienced a mishap on the treacherous cobblestones, Kiwi Dion Smith fracturing his thumb and requiring stitches in his hand after taking a fall Chris Froome also hit the bridge while another of Bevin's teammates, Tejay van Garderen, lost nearly six minutes due to various mechanics

"He punctured and I had him give one of my wheels, day quite abruptly, "said Bevin." We tried to keep him in the race as long as possible because obviously he is a very good climber and he had not lost any time up to # Yesterday, so that was the goal, try to get it through. He suffered a few accidents and a few punctures close together. "

But despite the heavy toll, Bevin said that he really enjoyed the carnage on the bumpy road of Roubaix.

" It's something You have to do a little practice because little no matter what we see on TV, it does not do justice when we hit the pebbles at 50 km / h regardless of the equipment, "he said.

"Everyone knew that this step was going to be exactly what it was … On the balance, most teams managed to pass, I think the guy who will win the Tour of France deserves its victory after surviving yesterday and surviving two weeks in the mountains. "

HOW THE KIWIS TARIFF

93 Jack Bauer +27: 20

108 D ion Smith +30 : 35

121 Tom Scully +35: 53

144 Patrick Bevin +43: 50

– Stuff