Cycling: Dylan Teuns (Bahrain – Merida) has won the first mountain finish of this year's Tour de France. The Belgian left Giulio Ciccone (Trek – Segafredo) behind on the Planche de Belles Filles. But the Italian can put on the yellow jersey for it. There have been a few winners and losers in the overall standings. Emanuel Buchmann (Bora – hansgrohe) definitely presented himself positively.
Three Germans in the breakaway
Today, the Tour de France featured its first mountain finish. The 160,5-kilometer route from Mulhouse to La Planche des Belles Filles included seven categorized climbs. After the team time trial, the general classification contenders were finally put to the test. Initially, a large breakaway group dominated the race. Among those at the front were the Germans Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin), Nikias Arndt (Sunweb), and André Greipel (Arkéa-Samsic). The group's lead settled at around eight minutes. Until 55 kilometers from the finish, only Deceuninck-Quick-Step set the pace in the peloton. Only then did Movistar arrive to provide support. The breakaway finally disintegrated on the climb to the Col des Chevrères. Xandro Meurisse (Wanty – Gobert), Giulio Ciccone (Trek – Segafredo), Dylan Teuns (Bahrain – Merida) and Tim Wellens proved to be the strongest. The latter thus defended his King of the Mountains jersey.
| 14 outliers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nils Politt (Katusha - Alpecin) | Natnael Berhane (Cofidis) | thomas degendt (Lotto - Soudal) | Tim Wellens (Lotto - Soudal) |
|
| André Greipel (Arkea - Samsic) | Fabien Grellier (Total - Direct Energy) | Xandro Meurisse (Wanty-Gobert) | Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Gobert) |
|
| Nickias Arndt (Sunweb) | Serge Pauwels (CCC) | Julien bernard (Trek - Segafredo) | Guilio Ciccone (Trek - Segafredo) |
|
| Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) | Dylan teuns (Bahrain - Merida) |
Alaphilippe loses yellow despite strong performance
On the final climb to Planche de Belles Filles, Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) and Dylan Teuns dropped their companions. The decisive move would come on the gravel section, where Teuns proved stronger. The Belgian ultimately won the stage by eleven seconds ahead of the Italian. Xandro Meurisse held on for third place, ahead of the favorites. Mikel Landa (Movistar) was the first to break away, before Groupama-FDJ took control for Thibaut Pinot . But surprisingly, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) landed the first counterattack. The Frenchman attacked in the yellow jersey and immediately opened up a gap. Gravel sections clearly suit him. But Ineos responded in the final meters with Geraint Thomas. The Welshman overtook him, and Thibaut Pinot was right behind him. The new wearer of the yellow jersey is Giulio Ciccone, the stage runner-up, who won by six seconds! So, for him, the day ends with a happy ending after all.
Buchmann even better than Bernal
Behind Thomas, Pinot, and Alaphilippe, however, we also saw some disappointed faces. Team Movistar, for example, worked hard but achieved hardly any positive results. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) fared even worse. The Frenchman lost several seconds and, after the disaster in the team time trial, is practically no longer a contender for the podium. Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), on the other hand, finished eighth, even gaining time on Egan Bernal (Ineos). This gives hope that a place in the top ten is definitely within his grasp.