Saint-Étienne (AFP)
Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang has accused Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe and Thibaut Pinot of taking advantage of a motorbike's aspiration to create a gap at the 8th stage of the Tour de France, he told Danish television on Saturday. .
"I can not follow because the two Frenchmen have followed the bike at the top" of the Jaillère coast, where Pinot and Alaphilippe have attacked, the Astana rider, interviewed by the Danish TV TV channel 2 who reports these remarks on his website. "Even if we led the group behind, we could not catch them, we could see that they spurted behind the bike (...) I should have placed myself closer to them (but) they took seconds, "he continued.
Alaphilippe, who arrived 20 seconds ahead of Fuglsang alongside Pinot on the line, reacted with irony to this criticism: "Yes, we put our bikes on it and attacked on a motorcycle, it was easier," he said. joked, before denying having taken advantage of any aspiration. "We did not ride behind the bike, we were just behind Thomas De Gendt".
In the standings after the 8th stage, Alaphilippe, yellow jersey, is 1 min 42 seconds ahead of Fuglsang, 9th. Pinot is 46 seconds ahead of the Dane, in 3rd place.
© 2019 AFP