Saint-Gaudens (France) (AFP)

A 36-kilometer solo: Patrick Konrad put Austria in the spotlight in the 16th stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday in Saint-Gaudens, on the eve of the arrival at the top of Portet in the Pyrenees.

Third rider from his country to win in the Tour (after Max Bulla in 1931 and Georg Totschnig in 2005), Konrad won hands down a mid-mountain stage offered to attackers.

Because, for the general classification still ordered by the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, the appointment is fixed for Wednesday, day of the National Day, in the arrival "the most difficult of the Pyrenees" according to Thierry Gouvenou, the tracer of the Tour.

At 29, Konrad won for the first time outside the borders of his country.

Austrian champion twice (2019 and 2021), he obtained his best results in the Giro, which he finished twice in the top ten (7th in 2018, 8th in 2020).

Until his success in Saint-Gaudens.

"I really didn't believe it until 500 meters from the line," said the winner of the day, who maintained a 42-second advantage over the group of pursuers set by Italian champion Sonny Colbrelli in front of the 'Australian Michael Matthews and the French Pierre-Luc Périchon and Franck Bonnamour.

- Colbrelli always amazes -

Second on the Quillan stage on Saturday behind Bauke Mollema, Konrad used the same tactics as the Dutchman, who also started far from the finish.

"I didn't want to end up with faster riders," said the Austrian, aware of the danger posed by riders like Colbrelli and Matthews.

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Colbrelli, who had taken an astonishing third place in the Tignes stage ("I was in a state of grace", had he justified himself), confirmed his transformation in recent weeks, at the age of 31.

Routier-sprinter until now, the Bahrain team rider, already in a state of grace at the beginning of June in the Dauphiné, showed himself capable of holding the wheel of climber David Gaudu when the Frenchman forced the pace in the Portet-d'Aspet, without being able to return to Konrad.

"Today was a real chance for me. I'm disappointed," commented the Italian champion.

"I have tried everything !"

But it was without counting on Konrad, who imitated his German team-mate of the Bora team, Nils Politt, winner of the 12th stage in Nîmes, the day of the abandonment of their leader Peter Sagan.

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- Pogacar exudes confidence -

This rainy 169-kilometer stage left the top of the general classification unchanged despite an attack by Belgian Wout van Aert on the last climb, well after (almost a quarter of an hour!) The day's breakaways.

"I did not really understand", soberly reacted Pogacar, already turned to the next stage.

The next two days promise to be more important for the candidates for the podium, separated by a handful of seconds but at a distance - more than five minutes - from the yellow jersey which exudes confidence.

"The weather conditions are excellent for me, I feel good in this kind of climate," said Pogacar, decidedly stainless.

"I hope we will have the same time, I have good legs in the cold. But if the weather is nice, that will suit me too".

The defending champion wanted to reassure his lieutenant in the mountains, the Polish Rafal Majka, who is recovering from a fall: "He has trouble breathing, he can only sleep in one position at night but he is improving day by day."

He also made a point of reacting to the criticisms leveled against his UAE team, with the limits emphasized on several occasions in the mountains.

"We're the best team here. We haven't seen a lot of action from the other teams. Maybe they book for tomorrow (Wednesday)."

© 2021 AFP