Christophe Laporte ends French drought with shock Stage 19 win as Jumbo-Visma's stellar Tour continues

ByFelix Lowe

Updated 22/07/2022 at 17:15 GMT

Frenchman Christophe Laporte ended the host nation’s long wait for a win with an opportunistic surge at the end of Stage 19 to ride to glory in Cahors. Tadej Pogacar put in an audacious attack inside the final 35km but it came to nothing – although the defending champion’s fifth place in the final sprint saw him shave off five seconds from rival Jonas Vingegaard’s lead.

Jumbo-Visma’s extraordinary Tour de France continued on Friday with Christophe Laporte powering up the ramped finale in Cahors to take a maiden Tour stage win – and a first triumph for France with just two days to go until Paris.

Laporte pegged back a leading trio under the flamme rouge before anticipating the reduced bunch sprint with an emphatic kick to take Jumbo-Visma’s fifth stage win of the race. His head in his hands in disbelief, 29-year-old Laporte crossed the line one second ahead of Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who led the charge of the fast finishers behind.

Two-time champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) sprinted to fifth place as he closed the gap on yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) by five seconds after the Danish race leader came home on the other side of a small split.

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• Tour de France Stage 19 as it happened - Laporte seals shock Stage 19 win

One day after all but conceding his crown to Vingegaard at Hautacam, Pogacar put in an audacious attack with 34km remaining – although the Slovenian 23-year-old was quickly pegged back on the sweeping descent by Vingegaard’s trusty teammate Wout van Aert, the green jersey.

‘What is he doing?’ – Pogacar shows ‘devilment’ with surprise Stage 19 attack

A trio of three riders – Britain’s Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Frenchman Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels-KTM) and Belgian Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) – came together off the front in the lull that followed Pogacar’s last throw of the dice, building up a 30-second lead on the lumpy ride into Cahors.

Despite a frantic chase from the teams of the sprinters behind, the trio held on right until the eleventh hour – with Laporte zipping clear under the kilometre-to-go banner before putting his fresher legs to work with an accomplished kick to the line.

Laporte’s win was France’s first on their national race in 38 stages. It was also a personal milestone for one of the sport’s most improved riders of 2022: a first Tour stage win in eight appearances and the latest show of excellence after a career-changing switch from Cofidis to Jumbo-Visma this winter.

Stage 15 winner Philipsen cut a frustrated figure at the finish after leaving it too late and settling for second place ahead of Italy’s Alberto Dainese (Team DSM). Frenchman Florian Senechal (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and Pogacar, the white jersey, completed the top five.

Sprinters Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Australia’s Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) made the top 10 but could not contest for the win despite the work carried out by their teams during the long and hot 188km ride through south-west France.

A strong quintet of riders animated the first half of a stage which simmered away with the possibility of crosswinds and splits on the exposed roads towards the finish. Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Mikkel Honore (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) pinged off the front inside the first few kilometres before being joined by Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) and Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe).

Protesters blocking the road caused the race officials to halt proceedings in the opening hour, with the break’s lead of 1’30” reinstated once the race resumed after a brief pause. Despite the calibre of its components, the breakaway never managed to stretch out their lead – and with the pack closing in, German champion Politt sat up with 124km remaining.

‘Riders stopping left and right!’ – Another protest interrupts Tour de France

A huge pull from Denmark’s Honore gave the break a second wind, their gap of just eight seconds growing back to over a minute ahead of a duo of fourth-category climbs. But an attack from the American Simmons on the first of those ascents sounded the death-knell for the move, with Mohoric cresting the summit before throwing in the towel alongside Belgium’s Van der Hoorn and Honore.

Simmons pressed on alone but was swept up after the next climb with just under 40km remaining. A momentarily split in the pack had increased the tension while Pogacar was among a cluster or riders who needed to battle back after mechanical issues ahead of Simmons’ capture.

The threat of blustering winds never materialised but the terrain got lumpier – providing a springboard for Gougeard’s attack. Moments after the Frenchman went up the road, Pogacar threw caution to the wind with a bold final attempt at wresting yellow from Vingegaard’s shoulders. But the 23-year-old’s dig came to nothing just as Britain’s Wright and Belgium’s Stuyven went clear in pursuit of Gougeard.

Fred Wright, Alexis Gougeard and Jasper Stuyven in the break on Stage 19 of the Tour de France 2022

Image credit: Getty Images

The trio combined well and stretched out a lead of 30 seconds which wouldn’t come down despite the work of Peter Sagan’s TotalEnergies team. But with Lotto Soudal, BikeExchange-Jayco and Alpecin-Deceuninck all committing men to the chase, the gap slowly came down on the fast and nervy approach to Cahors.

Green jersey Van Aert was on the nose of the peloton entering the final five kilometres – raising the possibility that the insatiable Belgian superstar might push for a third stage win. But it was another Jumbo-Visma rider who took the honours – Laporte showing his class by reeling in Wright, Gougeard and Stuyven before surging clear to take the biggest win of his career.

After another strong display in his second Tour, 23-year-old Wright, still in search of that elusive first pro win, remained stoic in defeat – and praised the Frenchman for his fast finish.

“I saw the opportunity on that climb with 30km to go because in everybody’s minds it was going to be a sprint. I saw a few guys attacking and it opened up and I decided I was just going to go.

“I went flat-out as hard as I could to the top – and we had a gap. The three of us kept fighting and I’m not disappointed. I wouldn’t have won a bunch sprint – I was close but, you know, sometimes it’s just the way it goes. I knew the bunch was coming so I just committed to it. But fair play to Laporte – he came round with some speed. He’s got legs.”

The Tour continues on Saturday with a 40.7km time trial to Rocamadour, for which the likes of Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ), Stefan Bisseger (EF Education-EasyPost), Pogacar and Van Aert will be favourites.

Highlights: Laporte powers home to end French drought after another protest halts Tour

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