Lotto Soudal’s Thomas De Gendt won the 200km stage 8 of the 2019 Tour de France from a breakaway, while Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe reclaimed the Tour de France’s yellow jersey and compatriot Thibaut Pinot underlined his title credentials.
Belgian Thomas De Gendt won the 200-km hilly stage from Macon from a breakaway, ahead of Pinot, the only rider able to follow Alaphilippe’s brutal attack on the last climb with about 13 kilometres left.
The French duo went at full tilt on the descent into St Eterne and held off a trimmed-down kiloton at the finish, cheered on by huge crowds hoping to celebrate the first French winner of the Tour since 1985.
The pair crossed the line six seconds behind De Gendt but 20 seconds ahead of the bunch featuring defending champion Geraint Thomas, who suffered a scare 15 kilometres from the finish when he took a minor tumble.
It was breakaway specialist De Gendt’s second stage victory on the Tour after the Lotto Soudal rider prevailed at the top of the iconic Mont Ventoux in 2016.
“We really wanted to have someone in the breakaway today,” said De Gendt at the finish. “The first attack in the peloton was the right one to form the break of the day and it was pretty easy to be part of it. Strange, because I was expecting a lot more fighting. Together with three other riders, I escaped, but the peloton never gave us much space. As for me, you don’t need a lot of advantage on this parcours; you just need to ride smart.”
“After a while, I only had De Marchi by my side, so we had to give it our all to compete for the victory and we did. At 70 kilometres of the finish line, I decided to go solo, but as we got closer to the end, I was told that Alaphilippe and Pinot were in the chase. I know that especially Alaphilippe is a great descender, so I had to give everything I got. Because I was using almost the last energy I had left, I almost had to throw up, but luckily I didn’t break!”
“Of course, I was hoping they wouldn’t come back, but even if that would have happened, I think I still would have had a chance. Possibly Pinot and Alaphilippe would just look at each other for the general classification and if so, I could take advantage of it.”
“I think this is my best performance ever. I prefer this victory even more than the one on the Mont Ventoux. I had a real great day and almost miraculous legs. If I need a massage later on? No, that’s not really my cup of tea,” De Gendt concluded.
“I was ready for Julian’s attack since last night and all day I was waiting for it because I had great legs,” added Pinot, who like Milan-San Remo champion Alaphilippe holds a ‘Monument’ classic title as he won the Giro di Lombardia last October.
Alaphilippe thrillingly won back the yellow jersey on the eve of the Bastille Day national holiday.
“Tomorrow is a very special day for the French people, and for me too,” said the 27-year-old former soldier Alaphilippe.
“I went for it on the last climb and then I saw Thibaut. We looked at each other and we just knew, we didn’t even have to speak,” said the overall leader.
“He had his interests and I had mine, but it was a moment of great beauty,” said Alaphilippe, who leads defending champion Geraint Thomas by 1min 12sec.
He laughed off an accusation that he had ridden behind a motorbike to pick up slipstream speed.
“I climbed on the back of the motorbike with my bike, it was very fast,” he scoffed. “No way,” he then said firmly.
Frustration for Thomas
Alaphilippe now leads Italian Giulio Ciccone, who started the day in yellow with a six-second advantage, by 23 seconds and Pinot by 53 seconds.
Deceuninck Quick Step’s Alaphilippe gained a total of nine bonus seconds and Pinot (Groupama) picked up eight at the top of the final ascent and on the finish line.
Thomas is fifth, 1:12 off the pace with his Ineos teammate Egan Bernal a further four seconds adrift.
Vincenzo Nibali, the 2014 champion, dropped out of contention when he cracked on the Cote de la Jailer and reached the line 4:25 off the pace.
Thomas was frustrated that Alaphilippe’s move came shortly after he had made his way back into the kiloton.
“I’m fine but it was just frustrating,” he said. “It was a key moment in the race. (Michael) Woods crashed and took out Gianni (Moscon) and me and I just got tangled in Gianni’s bike.”
Moscon’s bike was snapped in half in the crash.
“By the time I got up to the group I was gassed for a bit and obviously that’s when they started to sprint away,” said Thomas. “It’s annoying and frustrating but to come back like I did is good.
“If I hadn’t crashed I could have followed (Pinot and Alaphilippe) and it’s a totally different story then. Still a lot of racing to go though.”
Sunday’s hilly ninth stage is a potentially treacherous ride from St Eterne to Broider over 170.5 kilometres.
Stage 8 Brief Results:
- Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) at 5h00’17” (B : 18″)
- Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) at 6″ (B : 8″)
- Julian Alaphilippe (Decueninck-Quick Step) s.t. (B : 9″)
- Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) at 26″
- Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 8
- Julian Alaphilippe (Decueninck-Quick Step) at 34h 17’59”
- Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) at 23″
- Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) at 53″
- George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) at 1’10”
- Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) at 1’12”
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