Primoz Roglic showed once again that he may be the next-generation Grand Tour rider, winning the queen stage of the 2018 Tour de France – a feat he also achieved in 2017.
Roglic won the final mountain stage in the Tour in an impressive way. In the spectacular Pyrenees stage, he made his decisive move during the descent of the Col du Aubisque and climbed to third place in the general classification after the stage.
The victory in Laruns is the third stage win for Roglic’s LottoNL-Jumbo team in this Tour de France. During the first week, Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to the victory in Chartres and Amiens. For Roglic, who won amongst others the Tour of the Basque Country and the Tour de Romandie earlier this year, it meant his eighth victory of the season. For Team LottoNL-Jumbo it’s the twenty-third win of the season.
The stage, with mythical climbs along the way such as the Tourmalet and the Aubisque, was a great spectacle. After Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s Robert Gesink had kept the breakaway under control, Steven Kruijswijk launched the attack on the Col du Soulor. Both Kruijswijk and Roglic attacked several times, but only in the technical descent Roglic was able to ride away from his rivals.
“I’m very happy with this victory”, Roglic said. “It’s a special feeling to win again in the Tour de France after my stage win last year. This can’t be described in words. It’s just perfect. I felt very good and made optimal use of it. Steven and I kept attacking. In the descent, when I saw that nobody followed me, I just went full throttle. The team was very strong today and I want to thank the team for their efforts. Without my team mates it would have never been possible to win here. I’m already looking forward to the time trial. I’ll do my best to keep my podium position and who knows what else we can do.”
Steven Kruijswijk climbed to the fifth place in the general classification. “It’s a beautiful day. It was a very tough stage, but as a team, we played it perfectly. Primoz was very strong today and Robert has also done a tremendous job to decrease the gap to the breakaway. The plan was that I would attack at the ascent of the Soulor and see how they would react. Just before the top, Primoz came back. We both tried it a few times. I’m glad he finished it off in a superb way. We’ve won the stage and we’re now third and fifth overall. We can hardly do any better.”
2018 Tour de France Stage 19 Brief Results:
- Primoz Roglic (Team LottoNL – Jumbo) at 5:28:17
- Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) at 19″
- Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) s.t.
- Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
- Rafal Majka (BORA – hansgrohe) s.t.
- Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) s.t.
- Mikel Landa (Movistar Team) s.t.
- Chris Froome (Team Sky) s.t.
- Steven Kruijswijk (Team LottoNL – Jumbo) at 31″
- Ilnur Zakarin (Team Katusha – Alpecin) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 19:
- Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) 79h49’31”
- Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) at 2’05”
- Primoz Roglic (Team LottoNL – Jumbo) at 2’24”
- Chris Froome (Team Sky) at 2’37”
- Steven Kruijswijk (Team LottoNL – Jumbo) at 4’37”
- Mikel Landa (Movistar Team) at 4’40”
- Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) at 5’15”
- Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) at 6’39”
- Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) at 10’26”
- Ilnur Zakarin (Team Katusha – Alpecin) at 11’49”
Ron is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.
Websites:
Bike World News
Ron’s Bike Garage
Current Bike Quiver:
Bird Bikes Zero 29 29″ hardtail mountain bike
Commencal Absolut 26″ Dirt Jump/Pump Track bike
Commencal Tempo 29″ full suspension mountain bike
Felt ZA 700c race bike
Kona Kilauea vintage 26″ mountain bike
Niner RLT9 700c road/gravel bike
Specialized Stumpjumper vintage 26″ mountain bike
Day Job: Digital Marketing
Night Job: Digital Marketing, eCommerce Consultant, Web Consultant, Bike Shop Operator, Husband, Dad, Tenor