Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck) did better than keep the yellow jersey, he won Friday, July 19, the time trial of Pau, 13th stage of the Tour de France.
Alaphilippe beat the outgoing winner of the Tour, Gallois Geraint Thomas, by 14 seconds on the anniversary of the appearance of the yellow jersey one hundred years ago. Boosted, the world number one has removed for the first time a time trial of the Tour, the first success for a long time of a French rider in a "chrono" of this level.
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After the 27.2-kilometer time-trial, Alaphilippe increased his lead in the overall standings to 1: 26 seconds over Thomas, who took time over the other general candidates.
Among the losers of the day, Colombian climber Egan Bernal lost 1 minute 22 seconds to Thomas, his teammate. The British Adam Yates and the Colombian Nairo Quintana, and even more the Frenchman Romain Bardet, have given up more time.
Second stage victory for Alaphilippus
The match between Thomas and Alaphilippe, which started within two minutes, continued throughout the course. The French, gone in a bang, took the advantage (6 sec) in the first part, the most hilly. Thomas then stabilized the gap (5 sec) but Alaphilippe ripped into the small rib before the finish, to the line.
Alaphilippe, 27, won the fourth time in the Tour, the second time since leaving Brussels.
Belgian Wout Van Aert, Monday's winner of the Albi stage, crashed into a bend on the last kilometer and gave up. Two other specialists, Switzerland's Stefan Küng and Germany's Maximilian Schachmann, also fell in this time.
Saturday, the Tour exceeds for the first time this year the 2,000 meters of altitude. The 14th stage, limited to 117.5 kilometers from Tarbes, climbs the Soulor and ends at the top of the Col du Tourmalet, the "giant" of the Pyrenees.
With AFP