Anche l’altro francese Pinot, oggi secondo e terzo in classifica generale dopo Alaphilippe e Ciccone, è ora uno dei gradi favoriti per la maglia gialla che si assegnerà il 28 luglio a Parigi.

Se Ciccone oggi, come era abbastanza prevedibile, ha lasciato la maglia gialla ad Alaphilippe, la perdita delle ruote del gruppo principale di Vincenzo Nibali assieme al Alberto Bettiol, i due hanno terminato la tappa con oltre 4 minuti, è la seconda notizia negativa della giornata per il ciclismo italiano!

Consoliamoci comunque con la maglia bianca di Giulio Ciccone, l’abruzzese della Trek-Segafredo che sta cercando anche di fare classifica per la Maglia a Pois, essendoci per quella della maglia bianca in questo Tour, un asso delle salite ancor più forte sulla carta di Ciccone, quel colombiano scoperto da Gianni Savio ora in forze nel Team INEOS, Egan Bernal!

 Lotto Soudal: Thomas De Gendt wins in Saint-Etienne!

One of the best escapees of the peloton took the win in the eighth stage of the Tour de France today. After riding a whole day in the breakaway, Thomas De Gendt accelerated at 70 kilometres from the finish line and left his fellow escapee De Marchi behind.  Alaphilippe and Pinot came very close, but De Gendt managed to keep the two behind him.

Thomas De Gendt: “We really wanted to have someone in the breakaway today. The first attack in the peloton was the right one to form the break of the day and it was pretty easy to be part of it. Strange, because I was expecting a lot more fighting. Together with three other riders, I escaped, but the peloton never gave us much space. As for me, you don’t need a lot of advantage on this parcours; you just need to ride smart.”

“After a while, I only had De Marchi by my side, so we had to give it our all to compete for the victory and we did. At 70 kilometres of the finish line, I decided to go solo, but as we got closer to the end, I was told that Alaphilippe and Pinot were in the chase. I know that especially Alaphilippe is a great descender, so I had to give everything I got. Because I was using almost the last energy I had left, I almost had to throw up, but luckily I didn’t break!”

“Of course, I was hoping they wouldn’t come back, but even if that would have happened, I think I still would have had a chance. Possibly Pinot and Alaphilippe would just look at each other for the general classification and if so, I could take advantage of it.”

“I think this is my best performance ever. I prefer this victory even more than the one on the Mont Ventoux. I had a real great day and almost miraculous legs. If I need a massage later on? No, that’s not really my cup of tea.”

Tour de France: Alaphilippe back in yellow  A masterful display and a load of panache helped our rider regain cycling’s most prestigious garment ahead of Bastille Day 13-Jul-2019: Julian Alaphilippe enhanced his burgeoning reputation as one of the peloton’s most spectacular riders with a display of strength and class on the tough stage 8 of the Grande Boucle (Mâcon – Saint-Étienne, 200 kilometers), which took in seven classified climbs and some 3800 vertical meters as the peloton travelled south for the first leg of a double whammy in the Massif Central.  “I had nothing to lose, I felt good and I attacked. The goal was to take back the yellow jersey and having achieved that gives me a huge satisfaction. Wearing the maillot jaune for three days was incredible, but having it on my shoulders on our National Day will be really special and pretty amazing”, said Alaphilippe, who became just the third French rider this century to wear the maillot jaune on July 14.    Second in the overall standings at the start of the day, just six seconds off the lead, Julian pounced on the 14% gradients of Côte de La Jaillère, dropping everyone bar Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and collecting five bonus seconds. The duo opened in an instant a ten-second gap over the peloton and set off in pursuit of lone leader Thomas De Gendt (Soudal-Lotto), the last survivor of the breakaway. Several teams led the chase behind, but Alaphilippe and Pinot worked well together, leaving everything out there on the roads to Saint-Étienne, a stage finish for the 26th time in history.  Julian used a small unclassified ascent near the finish to produce another enormous acceleration and further increase the advantage together with his countryman, before concluding third for the team’s fourth podium on the race’s opening week. The new hero of the French public, Julian gained enough of a buffer over the thinned-out bunch to move back to the top of the general classification and ensure a fourth day in the coveted yellow jersey, a performance not seen from a home rider in the last eight years.  Alaphilippe’s perfectly-timed move and his performance oozed panache and earned him plaudits at the end of the day as he took to the podium to receive the prized maillot jaune in the applause of the fans gathered at the finish in Saint-Étienne: “It was a truly magnificent finale! I was focused all day and stayed near the front of the bunch, and when I felt it was the moment to go, I attacked. Thibaut bridged across and it was good to have him there, as we both had something to gain from this. We didn’t ask any questions, just kept on pushing and riding full gas. I’m sure the French public appreciated this action. Now I look forward to sporting the jersey on Sunday and honouring it again!”   Available Images to download Julian-Alaphilippe-Tour-de-France-Stage-8---_Justin-Setterfield---Getty-Images.JPG - Julian Alaphilippe Tour de France Yellow Jersey / All pictures attached can be used for editorial and non commercial usages only and are copyright protected - © Deceuninck - Quick-Step - ©Justin Setterfield / Getty Images - Photo credit: ©Justin Setterfield/ Getty Images

 

Tour de France #8: Ben King makes powerhouse breakaway Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) took an incredible stage 8 Tour de France victory, winning from a stage long breakaway. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) was 2nd home, with Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep) 3rd and also taking back the race leader’s yellow jersey.  Stage 8 of the Tour de France may not have included any high mountains, but it was certainly one of the most difficult stages of this year's edition of the race. Over 4000m of climbing was packed into the 200km stage, which mainly took place on small, twisty and grippy roads.  There was a big expectation that a large breakaway would go clear today but in the end,  it was just 4-riders, one of them being our Ben King, who was the first rider to attack at the start of the stage. King was joined by 3 of the strongest riders in the race, Thomas De Gendt, Alessandro De Marchi (CCC Team) and Niki Terpstra (Total Direct-Energie).  You probably couldn't have put together a stronger 4-rider breakaway, as Robbie Mcewen mentioned they were about as strong as a 12-rider break. The peloton, fearful of the powerhouse group up the road, kept them on a short leash but this placed the entire field under immense pressure.  De Gendt, was just in another league today though, and had one of the most incredible rides of the season. First distancing King and Terpstra, and later dispatching De Marchi on the final climb of the stage.  " I was expecting a bigger break today but in the end it was four us. Four really strong guys with big engines, Terpstra, De Marchi and De Gendt. They all guys who have won a lot of races from breakaways. Today was not the first time I have been dropped by De Gendt in a break, he did an incredible ride." - Ben King  The peloton was reduced to just 30-odd riders by the time they reached the final climb and we had Roman Kreuziger looking good among the favourites. Despite late attacks from Pinot and Alaphilippe, De Gendt was able to keep everyone at bay to win stage 8 of Le Tour.  Kreuziger finished safely in the reduced main group, and kept the hope of decent GC result alive by moving up another 3 places to 25th. Being an extremely difficult day, Team Dimension Data was happy to have all our riders finish safely within the time cut too.  Image: Getty Images

Ordine d’arrivo 8a tappa del TOUR DE FRANCE
1    Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal    5:00:17     
2    Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ    0:00:06     
3    Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep          
4    Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb    0:00:26     
5    Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe          
6    Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott          
7    Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert          
8    Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team          
9    Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos          
10    Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos          
11    Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe          
12    Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team          
13    Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team          
14    Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First          
15    David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ          
16    Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott          
17    Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic          
18    Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe          
19    Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo          
20    Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates          
21    Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team          
22    Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep          
23    Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma          
24    Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo          
25    Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Dimension Data          
26    Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo          
27    Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team          
28    Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale          
29    Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ          
30    George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma          
31    Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team          
32    Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates          
33    Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott          
34    Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert          
35    Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates          
36    Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb    0:00:32     
37    Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb    0:00:56     
38    Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb    0:01:46     
39    Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits    0:02:38     
40    Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie    0:03:27     
41    Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe    0:03:42     
42    Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team    0:04:11     
43    Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Ineos    0:04:25     
44    Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First          
45    Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida          
46    Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale    0:04:42     
47    Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin    0:05:01     
48    Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale    0:05:37
 

Classifica Generale dopo 8 tappe del Tour de France
1    Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep    34:17:59     
2    Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo    0:00:23     
3    Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ    0:00:53     
4    George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma    0:01:10     
5    Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos    0:01:12     
6    Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos    0:01:16     
7    Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma    0:01:27     
8    Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First    0:01:38     
9    Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team    0:01:42     
10    Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe    0:01:45     
11    Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep    0:01:46     
12    Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott    0:01:47     
13    Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert    0:02:02     
14    Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team    0:02:04     
15    Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team    0:02:06     
16    Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates    0:02:09     
17    David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ    0:02:15     
18    Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo    0:02:19     
19    Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo    0:02:45     
20    Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe    0:02:46     
21    Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team    0:02:54     
22    Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team    0:03:18     
23    Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale    0:03:20     
24    Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic    0:03:26     
25    Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Dimension Data    0:03:28     
26    Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates    0:03:48     
27    Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert    0:03:50     
28    Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida    0:06:18     
29    Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ    0:10:12     
30    Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ    0:11:07     
31    Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie    0:13:27     
32    Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale    0:13:38     
33    Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team    0:14:25     
34    Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott    0:15:23     
35    Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First    0:15:32     
36    Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo    0:18:11     
37    Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates    0:19:08     
38    Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb    0:19:25     
39    Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott    0:20:00     
40    Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe    0:20:07     
41    Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe    0:20:32     
42    Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale    0:23:06     
43    Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb    0:23:14     
44    Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates    0:23:30     
45    Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Ineos    0:23:46     
46    Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma    0:24:00     
47    Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits    0:24:03     
48    Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team    0:24:25     
49    Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale    0:25:10     
50    Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe    0:26:21     
51    Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb    0:26:40     
52    Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida    0:27:01     
53    Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team    0:28:32     
54    Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First    0:29:07     
55    Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal    0:29:59     
56    Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team    0:30:11     
57    Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team    0:30:50     
58    Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team    0:31:32     
59    Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb    0:31:36     
60    Wout Van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma    0:31:43     
61    Wout Poels (Ned) Team Ineos    0:32:41     
62    Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Ineos    0:32:44     
63    Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First    0:32:52     
64    Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team    0:33:46     
65    Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team    0:34:11     
66    Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo    0:34:20     
67    Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo    0:34:59     
68    Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin    0:36:20     
69    Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida    0:36:28     
70    Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb    0:36:44     
71    Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott    0:37:33     
72    Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin    0:37:52     
73    Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Dimension Data    0:38:30     
74    Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa Samsic    0:39:24     
75    Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data    0:41:09     
76    Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal    0:43:25     
77    Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team    0:44:10     
78    Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team    0:45:13     
79    Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First    0:46:22     
80    Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos    0:47:43     
81    Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal    0:49:19     
82    Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida    0:49:32     
83    Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits    0:50:09     
84    Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic    0:50:13     
85    Romain Sicard (Fra) Total Direct Energie    0:52:17     
86    Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida    0:52:23     
87    Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos    0:52:24     
88    Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida    0:52:46     
89    Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis Solutions Credits    0:54:35     
90    Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert    0:54:59     
91    Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott    0:55:06     
92    Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott    0:55:14     
93    Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo    0:55:15     
94    Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team    0:55:35     
95    Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin    0:56:12     
96    Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal    0:56:22     
97    Ben King (USA) Dimension Data    0:56:35     
98    Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep    0:56:43     
99    Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits    0:56:51     
100    Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Merida    0:56:55     
…