Romain Bardet brilliance gives France a second win, Chris Froome still in yellow
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Updated 23/07/2015 at 18:00 GMT
Frenchman Romain Bardet moved into the top ten and delivered a second victory to the host nation after soloing to success in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne as Chris Froome retained his lead in stage 18 of the Tour de France, writes Felix Lowe.
France's Romain Bardet rides past supporters ahead of the finish line at the end of the 186,5 km eighteenth stage of the 102nd edition of the Tour de France cycling race on July 23, 2015, between Gap and Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, French Alps
Image credit: AFP
Bardet, the pencil-thin 24-year-old climber from Ag2R-La Mondiale, attacked from a splintered breakaway near the summit of the Col du Glandon 40 kilometres from the finish before delivering a downhill masterclass to open up a gap of 40 seconds ahead of the showpiece final climb of the Lacets de Montvernier.
Despite a spirited chase led by fellow Frenchman Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Bardet extended his lead on the 18 twisting hairpin bends to the summit. He then held his nerve on the run down to the Maurienne valley to beat compatriot Rolland by 33 seconds and secure the biggest win of his career in the 186.5km stage from Gap.
Colombian Winner Anacona (Movistar) led a chasing trio containing Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) across the line 59 seconds down on Bardet after being dropped by Rolland after the final summit, 10km from the finish.
Having come into a rich vein of form in the Alps, Bardet - sixth in Paris last year - moved into tenth place in the overall standings on a day the main race protagonists largely marked each other out in a relentless battle of attrition over seven climbs en route to finishing in a select huddle 3:02 down on the stage winner.
“It’s a dream for me,” Bardet said after the first Tour stage win of his career. “It was a very tricky start today and getting in the break was very hard. Everyone was pretty tired and I wanted to make the most of that.
“We took on the final climbs in [last month’s] Criterium du Dauphine and so I knew this stage by heart. But the last kilometres still felt like an eternity. The crowds were phenomenal – it was like being in a football stadium.”
Bardet’s win gave a second success for his local French team Ag2R-La Mondiale, who opened their account in the opening week of the race through another Frenchman, Alexis Vuillermoz, at Mur-de-Bretagne in stage eight.
Despite some attacks on the interminable slog of the Glandon by the likes of Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), Britain's Chris Froome (Team Sky) retained his 3:10 lead over Nairo Quintana (Movistar).
The Colombian's Spanish team-mate Alejandro Valverde lurks a further 59 seconds back in third place ahead of Welshman Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) and Contador, the Giro d’Italia winner from Spain.
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Great Britain's Christopher Froome, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, rides during the 186,5 km eighteenth stage of the 102nd edition of the Tour de France cycling race on July 23, 2015, between Gap and Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, French Alps
Image credit: AFP
HIGHLIGHTS
1-POLKA DOT PURITO
Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez – the long-standing de facto polka dot jersey – was part of the day’s main break of 29 riders, picking up maximum points over the first five climbs of the day to move above Chris Froome in the virtual king of the mountains standings.
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Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez celebrates his polka dot jersey of best climber on the podium at the end of the 186,5 km eighteenth stage of the 102nd edition of the Tour de France cycling race on July 23, 2015, between Gap and Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, French A
Image credit: AFP
The double stage winner from Katusha was beaten by Bardet to the top of the Hors Categorie ascent of the Col du Glandon, and then saw the young Frenchman draw level on points after Bardet soloed over the Lacets de Montvernier climb in pole position.
But Rodriguez will keep a hold of the polka dot jersey he has worn for the past week in place of Froome by virtue of his HC stage win haul at Plateau de Beille in the Pyrenees. Rodriguez was eventually caught and passed by the race favourites, coming home almost 15 minutes down on his new polka dot rival.
2-ASTANA DRAMA
Just as defending champion Vincenzo Nibali readied his troops half-way up the 22km ascent of the Glandon, another Astana rider came a cropper in an incident involving a race motorbike.
Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang was riding the leading group of escapees – which by now had been whittled down to just six riders – when he veered off course and was clipped by the motorcycle, sending him sprawling across the road. Bardet showed superb reaction skills to avoid the tangle before using it as a launch pad for his decisive attack.
Meanwhile, three minutes further down the road, Nibali made his move – only to be reeled in by Movistar pair Quintana and Valverde. By this point, Contador, Dutchman Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) and young Frenchman Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin) had opened up a 20-second gap over the main pack after their own acceleration a little earlier.
The race came back together on the long, winding descent for all those who had attacked – while Fuglsang recovered to take fifth place on the stage.
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Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang crosses the finish line after a crash at the end of the 186,5 km eighteenth stage of the 102nd edition of the Tour de France cycling race on July 23, 2015, between Gap and Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, French Alps
Image credit: AFP
3-EUROPCAR PRESSURE
The second-tier French team – still on the hunt for a new sponsor, not to mention a stage win - put four riders in the break in Rolland, Thomas Voeckler, Cyril Gautier and Romain Sicard. Both Voeckler and Sicard were swept up on the Glandon, but Gautier turned himself inside out for Rolland ahead of the Lacets de Montvernier.
Chasing down fellow Frenchman Bardet on the narrow, sinuous and achingly gorgeous road – whose 18 ‘shoelaces’ have provided this Tour with its most striking aerial imagery yet – the Europcar tandem of Gautier and Rolland was extremely effective before Rolland went alone.
A stage winner at Alpe d’Huez in 2011 and La Toussuire in 2012, Rolland left it too late to reel in Bardet. Trailing by 50 seconds over the top of the final climb, the 28-year-old managed to slash another 18 seconds off the gap on the descent – but Europcar’s hunt for a stage win, and the sponsorship that may follow, continues.
MAN OF THE DAY
Having seen Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) make such a hash of the descent of the Col d’Allos on Wednesday it was a breath of fresh air to see a Frenchman descent with such aggression and panache one day later.
Bardet’s brilliance on the back of the Glandon ensured he attacked the final climb with a decent cushion over his chasers – and it provided the foundations of his triumph.
BIGGEST LOSER
Oddly enough, the man who lost most on this mountain stage was sprinter Mark Cavendish, who saw his lead-out man Mark Renshaw follow fellow Etixx-QuickStep team-mates Tony Martin and Michal Kwiatkowski out of the race with illness.
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Great Britain's Mark Cavendish
Image credit: AFP
Should Cavendish swoop to his second stage win of the race on the final day in Paris, he will have to do so with a very much depleted sprint train on the Champs-Elysees.
COMING UP
For many the 138km stage 19 from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to La Toussuire is the queen stage of the race, with the riders tackling the Col du Chaussy, the reverse side of the Glandon and the Col du Mollard ahead of the final slog to the finish.
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