And to think that this 19th stage promised to be quiet, and reserved for sprinters. 207 km later, nothing went as planned. Between the falls of the first kilometers, a breakaway of twenty riders who are fighting for victory, and a Matej Mohoric who wins despite the suspicions of doping relating to his team, the day was lively. We will summarize the essentials of this 19th stage for you.
The winner of the day: Mohoric, a victory and suspicion
Bahrain Victorious was expected to remain discreet until the end of the Tour after searches for suspicion of doping in the middle of the week. This is not the kind of Matej Mohoric. The Slovenian rider went for the solo victory in this 19th stage. At the crossing of the line, Mohoric showed the name of his team on his jersey then put his finger to the mouth. The opportunity to silence suspicion … Or rather to rekindle them.
Having started after barely 6 km of the race, the Slovenian managed to get rid of his breakaway companions, alone, just over 20 km from the finish. The peloton has never been involved. As a very good rider, Mohoric resisted, without too much difficulty, the return of his companions of the day. The Slovenian beat them by almost a minute, and more than twenty for the peloton. “We were treated like criminals. To me, that just proves that they haven’t found anything. I didn’t hide anything. Today, I just gave it my all. I was at the limit ”, reacted the winner of the day. With words this time.
The French of the day: regrets for Christophe Laporte
The Cofidis rider was surely the strongest of the day’s big breakaway. Without doubt, Christophe Laporte missed his chance when Mohoric took a fifteen seconds lead in the breakaway. Behind, the tricolor has long chased the Slovenian before letting him go. Laporte settled, almost easily, the rest of the breakaway in the sprint. Enough to nourish great regrets for the stage victory.
Among the other French riders, Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels) was once again present in the breakaway. Le Breton is chasing the Tour combative title. By more than 20 minutes ahead of the peloton, the blue-white-red rider also made a good comeback in the overall standings. Bonnamour is 21st, and 4th French, just over an hour from Tadej Pogacar.
Image of the day: Pogacar makes the police
After nearly three weeks of racing, it takes a boss to calm the enthusiasm of the peloton. Following a collective fall, Tadej Pogacar took charge of calming Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) and Tom Skujins (Trek-Segafredo), who took advantage of the moment to escape. An attitude that did not please the yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian immediately accelerated to join the two men, and reprimand them for their attitude. “Frankly, it wasn’t fun. There was no sense in wanting to move fast. We really had to wait for them. Everyone wants to finish the Tour, ”recalled the yellow jersey after the race.
A stage marked by another fall a few kilometers after this incident. Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious), Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) or Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) were delayed at the time, before catching up, without difficulty, the peloton. The peloton finished very far, more than 20 minutes from the leaders. No change in the overall Top 10 is to be reported.
Tomorrow’s stage: the last chance time trial
On the program for the 20th and penultimate stage, a time trial starting from Libourne, heading for the vines of Saint-Emilion. For the riders of the general classification, it will take a great vintage to recover time on its competitors in the Top 10. The second place behind Tadej Pogacar will be played on the 30.8 km of the stopwatch since Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) can only stand in six short seconds.
For 4th position, there are only 38 seconds between Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën) and Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe). Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) is 1′24 ′ ‘from 7th place. Behind, David Gaudu must complete a huge time trial to recover his delay, 2′17 ′ ‘, and make his entry into the Top 10. At the level of the favorites of the stage, Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) will want take revenge on Pogacar, who had beaten the Swiss in the first time trial of the Tour.
