The French rider of the Quick-Step team, Julian Alaphilippe, won his first stage of the Tour de France, this Tuesday at Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie).
The French Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step) won the 10th stage of the Tour de France this Tuesday 17th July, at the first mountain stage at the Grand-Bornand .
Alaphilippe has signed the first French success since the start. Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) kept the yellow leader’s jersey after the first of three alpine acts.
Yes Julian, you’ve done it! 💪
Oui @alafpolak, tu ne rêves pas, tu l’as fait ! 💪#TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/GzAIIQUzMu— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 17, 2018
A tricolor hope
At 26, Alaphilippe won for the first time in his career a stage of the Tour. In April, he took his first classic, the Flèche Wallonne.
The Montluçon puncher, who runs for the Belgian team Quick-Step, preceded by more than a minute and a half Spaniard Ion Izagirre (Bahrain) and Estonian Rein Taaramae (Direct Energie), after the 158, 5 kilometers.
The favorites squad crossed the line more than three minutes late, under the sun of the Alps.
In this stage scheduled for the day after the day of rest, the survivors of the 21-run breakaway from the first half hour approached the rise of Romme with six minutes in advance.
Taaramae was joined at the approach of the summit by Alaphilippe while the favorites have not sought to decide on this steep slope.
🏆 @Flechewallonne ✔
🏅 @Dauphine ✔
🏅 @Letour ✔
That’s one hell of a year you’re having, @alafpolak ! 🔥 // Quelle année 2018 pour @alafpolak 🔥#TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/lhXBMpXQ8D— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 17, 2018
Favorites cancel each other
In the Colombière, the last difficulty of the day, the Frenchman widened the gap to tip to the top with a margin of a minute and a half. The last 14.5 kilometers, downhill for the most part, was just a formality for “Alfapolak” (his nickname on Twitter) which is one of the best descenders of the pack.
To defend his yellow jersey, Van Avermaet had the guts to mingle with the break of the day, following the same tactics as in 2016 in the Pyrenees, during the stage of the lake Payolle.
The Rio Olympic champion dropped in the Romme pass but crossed the line, well before the first peloton regrouping most of the favorites.
Only Colombian Rigoberto Uran, who fell on the pavements of the Roubaix stage on Sunday, gave in to the final of La Colombière. Russia’s Ilnur Zakarin, Luxembourg’s Bob Jungels and Dutchman Bauke Mollema have also struggled.
Wednesday, second of the three alpine acts. The 11 th stage, picked up to 108.5 km between Albertville and La Rosiere, alternated ascents and descents to conclude on the slopes of Col Petit Saint Bernard.
Nobody expected @GregVanAvermaet to retain his yellow jersey in the mountains : he did it anyway! 💛
Personne n’attendait de Greg Van Avermaet qu’il conserve son maillot dans les Alpes, eh bien c’est pourtant chose faite ! 💛#TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/BUXv7YgAfM— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 17, 2018
