Oh my goodness, there’s never a dull day on this edition of the Tour de France! First, the break of the day made it to the line. Matteo Trentin produced a fabulous bare-chested, tongue-lolling solo raid to give Mitchelton-Scott their fourth victory. The Italian rouleur timed his attack from a winnowed super-break to perfection, keeping his gap ahead of Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) all the way into Gap. Asgreen’s teammate, Julian Alaphilippe, stays in yellow for another stage. Back in the peloton, things were relaxed until tempers frayed between Team Ineos’ Luke Rowe and Tony Martin (Jumbo-Visma) resulting in both their expulsions from the race. With the Alps looming who knows how crucial this could be?
Rider of the Race
To the victor the spoils! Step right on up to the VeloVoices podium Matteo Trentin.
In a break chock-full of stage-winning expertise, Matteo proved to be the strongest and, more importantly, the smartest. He takes the award for his deliciously timed attack just before the last climb. But I have to say his strength on the climb and his skills on the swoop into Gap were also darn near perfect.
I was always up there in this Tour but never got the results. This win makes up for it all. I had good legs but never finished it off. Today was: ‘all in: everything or nothing’. I suffered like a dog but it was worth it all.
This win makes it four for Mitchelton-Scott and their confidence is surging. Watch out for those overly large shades on the alpine climbs, I have a feeling the Aussie team haven’t finished yet. #EveryoneGetsTheirChance
Embed from Getty ImagesHeat of the moment leads to DQ
Just as we were rejoicing in the fact that there have been no controversial incidents on the jaunt around la belle France, Jumbo Visma’s Tony Martin and Luke Rowe (Ineos) got involved in some argy-bargy on wheels – right in front of the cameras.
and have both been disqualified from the race!
It seems both were trying to position their team leaders to best advantage for the final climb and tempers frayed. They were spotted coming over the finish line chatting together, having sorted their differences.
It’s a sight we do not need to see on the big stage and I was fully expecting the race jury to view the incident. At first viewing, I assumed it would be in the form of a hefty fine, as the story unfolded it seems the race jury thought differently.
Both are road captains and integral to their team leaders. They should have known better and I can’t help but feel this will change the nature of the race on the eve of the Alpine stages.
One thing is for sure, this story is going to run and run.
In the break by mistake?
End up finishing second on the stage!
It wasn’t the plan for Danish powerhouse Kasper Asgreen to be in the break of the day. Indeed it wasn’t the plan for any QuickStepper to be in the break given the work they have ahead over the coming stages.
No it wasn’t the plan for us to have someone in the breakaway today but I ended up in front, after the split in the peloton and then I was allowed to go for it as long as the final didn’t open up too early so I was happy with the confidence the team had in me today.
I hope I will have some energy left for the next three days in the Alps, it’s for sure going to be tough and hard days.
We all hope you have plenty of energy too, Kasper.
Do your thang, Twitter!
This photo is definitely one we’d like to see a lot more at the racing. Look at the joy on both their faces, if this doesn’t move you, I’m not sure what would. Surely, SURELY we can find this child so that Marcus can make his July even better. ♥♥♥
What’s up for tomorrow, LouLou?
Or as Alex Dowsett puts it…
Stage Results – Top 5
1 Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) 3:57:08
2 Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep)
3 Greg van Avermaet (CCC Team)
4 Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo)
5 Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida)
General Classification – Top 10
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) 69:39:16
2 Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) +1:35
3 Steven Kruijswijk (Team Jumbo-Visma) +1:47
4 Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) +1:50
5 Egan Bernal (Ineos) +2:02
6 Emanuel Buchmann (BORA-hansgrohe) +2:14
7 Mikel Landa (Movistar) +4:54
8 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +5:00
9 Rigoberto Uran (Education First) +5:33
10 Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) +6:30
All the Jerseys
Maillot Jaune: Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step)
Maillot Vert: Peter Sagan (BORA-hansgrohe)
Maillot Blanc: Egan Bernal(Team Ineos)
King of the Mountains: Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal)
Head image: Chris Graythen via Getty Images