2018 Tour de France: Stage 7 Results

In another sprint stage before the challenges of the weekend, Lotto-Jumbo’s Dylan Groenewegen had the legs, besting Gaviria and Sagan at the line in Stage 7 of the 2018 Tour de France.

Stage 7 of the 2018 Tour de France sees the race leave the Brittany region for the Mayenne province. The  231km ride from Fougères to Chartres was characterized by rolling hills and offers a little relief for the riders after yesterday’s punchier climbs. Still, with a climb in the last 2km of the stage, it was sure to make things a little more interesting for the sprinters.

Today’s stage saw an early breakaway of Oliver Naesen and Tony Gallopin (AG2R-La Mondiale), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Arthur Vichot (Groupama-FDJ), Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Yves Lampaert (Quick Step), Michael Gogl (Trek-Segafredo), Julien Vermote (Dimension Data), Edward Theuns (Sunweb) and Simon Gerrans (BMC), but that group was reeled back in before a couple of notable solo escapes.

Yoan Offredo (Wanty – Group Gobert) attacked 35km in and spent 106 km in the hot seat, leading the peloton by as much as 9 minutes before being captured with 90km to go.

Next off was Laurent Pichon (Fortuneo-Samsic), who attacked with 84km remaining. He only gained a lead of 2 minutes at the most in his 46km solo ride, though he did pick up some intermediate sprint points along the way. It’s no surprise when Pichon is awarded the combativity prize later in the stage.

The pace of the peloton, while not exactly slow for you or I, was languorous for them, with an average speed of 39.4km/h over the first 210km.

With 20km remaining the peloton was all together and waiting for the uphill sprint.

With 7km remaining, it’s a pleasant surprise for me to see the Manx Missile – Mark Cavendish himself – sitting with his sprint team near the front. Race commenters earlier noted that this might be his day. Still, he had plenty of company at the front, with Groupama-FDJ riding for Arnaud Demare and BORA-hansgrohe riding for Peter Sagan.

With 2.1km to go, the sprint is on! Cofidis goes first with BORA and Dimension Data close on.

1km to go and Dimension Data is on the front, but it looks like they went too early. Groupama-FDJ really opened up the sprint with Quick Step and BORA on their heels, but it was Lotto-Jumbo’s Dylan Groenewegen who had the legs, besting Gaviria and Sagan at the line.

Race leader Greg Van Avermaet picks up a few seconds over Geraint Thomas in the GC, taking 3 seconds at the bonus with 31km to go.

2018 Tour de France Stage 7 Brief Results:

1. Dylan Groenewegen (TLJ) at 5h43’42”
2. Fernando Gaviria (QST) s.t.
3. Peter Sagan (BOH) s.t.
4. Arnaud Demare
5. Christophe Laporte

General Classification After Stage 7:

1. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) BMC Racing Team 28h19’25”
2. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Team Sky at 6″
3. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team at 8″
4. Julien Alaphillipe (FRA) Quick Step Floors at 9″
5. Phillipe Gilbert (BEL) Quick Step Floors at 15″
6. Bob Jungels (LUX) Quick Step Floors at 21″
7. Rigoberto Uran EF Education First p/b Drapac Cannondale at 48″
8. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Movistar at 54″
9. Rafal Majka () BORA-hansgrohe at 55″
10. Jakon Fuglsang (NOR) at 56″