The bunch travelled Saturday afternoon from Cazères-sur-Garonne to Loudenvielle, over 141 kilometers.
110 years ago, the beautiful and ruthless Pyrenees were included in the Tour de France, a major innovation from the organisers which ended up having a huge impact on the race outcome. This year, the first stage spent by the peloton there didn’t bring too many changes or attacks from the overall contenders, despite featuring three classified climbs – Col de Menté (6.9km, 8.1%), Port de Balès (11.7km, 7.7%) and Col de Peyresourde (9.7km, 7.8%).
After three-time Danish Champion Michael Mørkøv booked a place in the large breakaway that got clear as soon as the neutral start was left behind, the peloton allowed the escapees to take their advantage to 14 minutes, the largest gap a group enjoyed since the start of the race. Just before the first ranked ascent, Sam Bennett emerged from the pack and scored two points at the intermediate sprint, cutting the deficit to the green jersey leader to just seven points and sticking true to his word of fighting for the classification until Paris.
The only moves from the yellow jersey group came five kilometers from the top of the Peyresourde. Victorious on stage 2, Julian Alaphilippe gritted his teeth and tried to stay there, but was eventually distanced and concluded the stage won by Nans Peters (AG2R) several minutes behind the favourites. Going into the last stage before a well-deserved rest day, Alaphilippe remains Deceuninck – Quick-Step highest-ranked rider in the general classification.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
