Izagirre hooks it, Martin and Pinot get closer – Liberation

At the end of a splendid stage on July 13, the Spaniard of Cofidis Ion Izagirre won alone. Thibaut Pinot and Guillaume Martin make a nice close overall.

Cofidis has (finally) found the martingale. After fifteen years of scarcity, the French team won not one but two stages in the Tour de France 2023, which is a huge success for them. After Victor Lafay in San Sebastian, it was Ion Izagirre who triumphed during stage 12, alone, in Belleville-en-Beaujolais.

On the road to the Alps, the peloton did not want to rest. The stage was sumptuous. From the start of Roanne (Loire), the attacks multiplied to take the breakaway. As often, the selection was made from behind, with sprinters exploding like overripe apricots and some well ranked overall for a long time trapped. After two third category passes and a succession of bumps, a group ended up taking off, including several Frenchmen, Thibaut Pinot, Mathieu Burgaudeau, Julian Alaphilippe and Guillaume Martin.

While the French team AG2R Citroën began to roll strangely to maintain a tempo among the favourites, Mathieu Van der Poel, in a role of teammate since the start of the event in the service of the racing king Philipsen, took the powder of escape to get ahead of the last summit, the Col de la Croix Rosier. Alas, he was caught too early and could not follow the best, Ion Izagirre in the lead (Cofidis).

The experienced 34-year-old Spaniard, winner in Morzine in 2016, approached the last 28 kilometers with a small nest egg of about thirty seconds ahead of a group of six. It was, surprisingly, more than enough. Followers could never get along effectively. The Basque even had time to savor before crossing the line, while the French Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) settled Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) in the sprint. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), sixth and seventh, did not completely lose their day. They are getting closer overall.