The Planche des Belles Filles (France) (AFP)
Thibaut Pinot passed Thursday the review of The Plank of the Beautiful Girls, failing to win the 6th stage of the Tour de France which ended on his lands of Haute-Saone.
Madly encouraged, by the public came en masse and on the road covered with inscriptions to his name, the "regional" of the Groupama-FDJ was almost equal to the outgoing winner, the Welsh Geraint Thomas. He crossed the line in 5th place, ahead of Julian Alaphilippe's yellow jersey, a few seconds before his rivals for the overall standings.
"It's not a bad day," said sports director Philippe Mauduit. "We could aspire better but we must act according to the circumstances of the race, we must know how to temper our ardor".
In office since the beginning of the season, Mauduit, who has in the past led the Spaniard Alberto Contador, sees beyond the day of La Planche des Belles Daughters, even though his rider has "the leg that scratches ", a cyclist expression to evoke the impatience to fight.
"We had agreed well this morning," smiled the sports director of the French team, who was able to see the effectiveness of David Gaudu, the young (22 years old) lieutenant of Pinot in the mountains.
The Breton hope took control of the group of favorites 3 kilometers from the summit. He "screwed" and extended his effort to the red flame of the last kilometer, before taking the 23rd place of the stage, in front of riders such as the Italian Fabio Aru and Romain Bardet.
In the general classification, Pinot, who has all been successful so far in the Tour, is in 7th place, 58 seconds behind Italy's Giulio Ciccone. In the immediate wake of Geraint Thomas (9 seconds apart) and the other leader of Ineos, the Colombian Egan Bernal (5 seconds).
"He is more than ever in the game", according to the expression of Marc Madiot, the boss of his team.
© 2019 AFP