After an eventful stage, on uneven ground, it was Hugo Houle who won in Foix on Tuesday July 19 during the sixteenth stage of the Tour de France. The Canadian from the Israel Premier Tech team crossed the finish line almost six minutes before the yellow jersey group, after 178 kilometers of racing from Carcassonne. As he passes, he grabs the bib of the most combative runner of the day.
Less than 40 km from the finish, he managed to outrun the breakaways in a descent, never to be caught again. One of his direct competitors, Jorgensen, indeed fell in a badly calculated turn, 12 km from the finish, leaving second place to Frenchman Valentin Madouas and third to compatriot and teammate of the winner, Michael Woods, victorious of a final sprint.
On the first day of the third and last week of racing, the Pyrenees put many runners in difficulty, especially in the last two passes of 1re category. Within the (skinny) group of favorites, then more than seven minutes from the breakaway, the white jersey and second in the general classification Tadej Pogacar took the opportunity to challenge the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard by attacking him several times from in a row 50 kilometers from the finish.
Romain Bardet, loser of the day
This was without taking into account the good form of the rider of the Jumbo Visma. With a 2-minute lead in the general classification, Jonas Vingegaard managed to keep the gap. When the group of contenders for the general classification arrived, this time it was the yellow jersey who tried to surprise his Slovenian rival. The disputed sprint between the two men will finally be won by the Dane. The virtual podium still does not evolve and the British Geraint Thomas retains his third place, 2 minutes 43 from the yellow jersey.
The last two passes, on the other hand, saw the Frenchman Romain Bardet weaken (4th overall at the start). Despite dancer positions and supportive teammates, he slipped from 4th to 9th place. Also in difficulty, the second Frenchman in the general classification, David Gaudu, for his part managed to limit the damage and return alone to the yellow jersey group. He moved up to fifth place, just behind Nairo Quintana, and passed first among the French riders, 4 minutes 24 behind Jonas Vingegaard.
