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An ever flatter profile than yesterday of today’s stage was very much an invitation for any riders attempting to get into a breakaway group that was strong enough to get to the finish.
The first opportunity came at the category four climb Côte du Bois du Lionge, a 1,9 kilometre long climb at 5,7%. The first rider taking the single point was Alexey Lutsenko. At this time he was in a small group consisting of two riders, Mads Pedersen was his companion.
Tour de France Stage 19: Report and Standings
They were caught soon after but another group broke away and was caught again: Julian Alaphilippe and Stefan Küng were not successful. Then it was Nils Pollitt going solo after 46 kilometres.
The pace was relentless: 49,2 kilometres have been covered in the first hour of racing today. Pollitt was soon in the company of eight other riders and the gap was 35 seconds, soon it was up to one minute. Pollitt was unfortunate to suffer a broken chain which forced him to swap bikes, yet the bike from the Shimano van was too small so he lost even more time.
The Intermediate Sprint
The only sprint today was won by Pedersen.
1. Mads Pedersen, 20 pts
2. Victor Campenaerts, 17 pts
3. Warren Barguil, 15 pts
4. Julian Alaphilippe, 13 pts
5. Jack Haig, 11 pts
6. Tiesj Benoot, 10 pts
7. Georg Zimmermann, 9 pts
8. Matteo Trentin, 8 pts
9. Jasper Philipsen, 7 pts
10. Jordi Meeus, 6 pts
11. Corbin Strong, 5 pts
12. Mathieu van der Poel, 4 pts
13. Jonas Abrahamsen, 3 pts
14. Anton Charmig, 2 pts
15. Nic Schultz, 1 pt
Due to the high pace – 47 kilometres have been covered during the second hour of racing – the peloton was stretched out and separated into several groups; a 29-strong group was on its way to catch the 8 riders at the front.
It is indicative of how high the pace in the peloton is in this Tour de France but also how hard-fought every metre of the race is.
These 35 worked well but soon were deserted as two riders rode away: Victor Campanaerts and Simon Clarke. The latter dropped soon with cramps, so it was Campanaerts going alone up the category three Côte d’Ivory (2,4 kilometres at 5,9%). Yet, three others passed the summit first:
Matej Mohoric, Ben O’Connor and Kasper Asgreen. And again, a group of just three looked promising as those chasing them looked disjointed in their effort. In this group Jasper Philipsen, the man in green was seen arguing with his fellow riders and appeared to be disappointed that their work would not bear any fruit at all.
MATEJ MOHORIC WINS STAGE 19 OF TOUR DE FRANCE IN POLIGNY after a photo finish sprint against Kasper Asgreen! 👏 That bike throw made the difference and brought Bahrain-Victorious the 3rd stage victory in this Tour. #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/ipSb8wxHyo
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) July 21, 2023
This paid off again and almost it was Asgreen again who took the victory but it was Matej Mohoric by about 10 cm. It was the third victory for his team, Bahrain Victorius and again it was an emotional moment for the rider and the team. Ben O’Connor who launched his sprint too early came in third place.
The Top Five of the Stage
1. Matej Mohorič
2. Kasper Asgreen
3. Ben O’Connor
4. Jasper Philipsen
5. Mads Pedersen
Points classification: top five after stage 19
1. J. Philipsen 377
2. M. Pedersen 238
3. B. Coquard 188
4. T. Pogacar 146
5. K. Asgreen 125
King of the Mountainns classification: top five after stage 19
1. G.Ciccone 88
2. F. Gall 82
3. J. Vingegaard 81
4. N. Powless 58
5. T. Pogacar 49
Another stage, another breakaway that thumped the peloton by taking the victory with mere metres to go. Sometimes belief pays off. Tomorrow’s stage is another mountain stage from Belfort to Le Markstein, covering six climbs between category 1 and 3 over a distance of 133,5 kilometres. It is the last meaningful stage before Sunday’s show-off on the Champs Elysées in Paris.
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