Tour de France: Thomas feels a chance to defend himself, Pinot wants to attack in the Alps

today 09:40
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British cyclist Geraint Thomas performed brilliantly on Sunday after an unsuccessful climb on Saturday at the Col du Tourmalet.

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While losing half a minute to lead Julian Alaphilippe on an iconic climb, he succumbed Sunday and lost 27 seconds against the yellow French. The defending champion, Thomas, acknowledged after Saturday that it was not enough for the co-Bavarians, but after the 15th stage, he is ready to attack the yellow jersey again.

Just minutes before the end of Sunday 's stage, Thomas seemed out of gear again. But two kilometers before the finish, he leans on the pedals and crosses the finishing line on the Prat d'Albis hill for the seventh time in a row. Alaphilippe lost 27 seconds. The difference between the two competitors was therefore reduced by 1:35 min.

Leader Alaphilippe, who showed excellent performances on the Tour, showed the first signs of weakness after two weeks of racing. "I felt better than Saturday, I was mostly expecting the pace to start the stage and in the end I tried it" quoted Thomas's words, Cyclingnews.com portal.

The British admitted that he could have attacked earlier and that the loss of the race leader could have been even smaller. "It was a shame, because I was behind Alaphilippe, two kilometers before the finish, I decided to attack, but their feet went, it was a decent day."

His Ineos team is ready to attack the Tour after Monday's day off. First, there are two lighter stages with a flat, wavy profile, but from Thursday to Saturday, three challenging mountain events in the Alps await riders. However, they will also want to talk a lot about the battle for the overall standings, including Thibaut Pinot.

That's the 29-year-old French Groupama FDJ team that has shown the most strength in the two tough stages of the weekend. He was first at Tourmalet and arrived at the finish line on Sunday just behind winner Simon Yates. Even after the hesitation of Alaphilippus at the 15th stage, the French media consider him the greatest national hope of triumph.

"I had good legs and I just had to enjoy it.I knew the last part of the climb was softer, so I thought it would not be too risky for me." attack a stiff portion. " said Pinot after Sunday 's step and added: "Even if they caught me, I would still be able to follow and attack later. "

Pinot, like Thomas, wants to attack the yellow jersey of Alaphilippea in stages 18, 19 and 20. In the Alps, it will be to support teams where Ineos has more power, but the confidence of Pinot is great and the Frenchman wishes to repeat the excellent performance of the Pyrenean hills. "I have to go further, now the most difficult steps will come with more gradients.If I have good legs, I will try to be ahead." added Pinot, who lost to the leader in fourth place in one minute and 50 seconds.

With Alaphilippe, they have been boiling all over France for several days. For many years, it has not happened that the home runner had such a chance to win the most valuable jersey. The last Frenchman to win the Tour was the legendary Bernard Hinault in 1985. At that time, he won the "young jersey" five times in his career and took the lead in the historical ranking with other big names, Jacques Anqeutil, Eddy Merckx and Miguel Indurain.