Paris (AFP)
Le Ventoux crowned a rider from the Astana team on Thursday, the Russian champion Aleksandr Vlasov, winner of the second edition of the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge ahead of the Australian Richie Porte and the French Guillaume Martin.
Colombian Nairo Quintana took 8th place by almost two minutes. Quite a long way from his performance last February, when the Andean climber was the best on the slopes of Ventoux when the Tour La Provence stage arrived at Chalet Reynard.
Just like Guillaume Martin, Quintana, who had to cut his training last month because of an accident, made his comeback unlike Vlasov and Porte, who ran the recent Route d'Occitanie.
To win at the Col des Tempêtes, just below the Observatory of the Giant of Provence, Vlasov attacked 4.5 kilometers from the finish. He joined then, at 3 kilometers, left behind Martin, who had taken the lead at 7,500 meters from the line.
Porte, overwhelmed by the acceleration of the Russian champion, remained less than 100 meters away, without succeeding in making the junction. "It's a good place. When you think about what happened to Jakobsen ...", commented the Australian, referring to the dramatic fall on Wednesday of the first stage of the Tour of Poland.
The race, under a summer sun, highlighted the Frenchman Pierre Latour (4th), the first of the contenders to attack at the threshold of the last 10 kilometers, and the Colombian neo-pro Harold Tejada (6th), a teammate of Vlasov.
The young (24-year-old) Russian champion, who joined Astana at the start of the year after racing for Gazprom, congratulated himself on his victory, the second in France after a stage in the Tour La Provence in February. Winner last summer of the queen stage of the Tour of Austria, in Kitzbühel, he announced that he would now join Italy for the classics.
First classified Frenchman, Guillaume Martin, for his part, was delighted with his third place with the L'Equipe channel: "We know that there is a really high level. It is significant of my progress and it is very encouraging for the future. I hope to be able to gain momentum at the Tour de l'Ain and at the Dauphiné. "
© 2020 AFP