Miguel Angel Lopez took a great solo victory today atop brutal Col de la Loze in Méribel at the finish of the 17th stage of the 2020 Tour de France. The leader of Astana Pro Team attacked alone with 2.4 km to the top, dropping all his rivals and gaining important seconds in the general classification of the French Grand tour.
In the end of the day Lopez won 15 seconds on the yellow jersey Primoz Roglic and 30 seconds on the white jersey Tadej Pogacar. Thus, in the overall standings of the Tour de France Miguel Angel Lopez moved up to the third place, 1 minute 26 seconds behind Roglic and 29 seconds behind Pogacar.
“I had this stage in my mind, I was focused on it and tried to come to this day in a right form. I knew that this kind of climbs over 2000 meters above sea level would suit me really well. Big and long climbs like Col de la Loze really suit me because it is similar to the climbs I have at home in Colombia,” said Lopez at the finish. “I feel good on the altitude and today I wanted to do something. Together with the team we did a good plan before the stage and we tried to follow it from start to finish. I had a great support of my team during the whole day and also in the final Omar Fraile did an excellent job for me. He was phenomenal today! Coming into the last climb I felt quite well, and my legs worked perfectly. Indeed, it was a super hard climb, but I managed to stay in front in the leading group until the decisive kilometers. I knew this climb very well, because we did a reconnaissance with the team earlier in August, so I knew what to expect and where to try to attack. It was super hard in the final and I had the longest two kilometers of my life, but I continued pushing hard until the finish line. I saw some Colombian fans along the road, they were cheering for me and it also gave me some additional motivation to keep on pushing hard. I am super happy with my win, I was dreaming about it and now I’ve got it. It is so beautiful!
“Well, now I am third in the general classification and of course, I would like to continue fighting for the overall until the finish in Paris. We still have three difficult stages ahead of us, every day could be decisive, and we have to keep our concentration on maximum. I will continue going through this race day by day until Paris,” Lopez added.
“It was our stage and we were waiting for this day all two weeks,” said Dmitriy Fofonov, sports manager of Astana Pro Team. “We knew that these climbs like today would suit Miguel Angel really well and we were ready to support him today. The team was very strong, and the guys did an amazing job for our leader, firstly on the first half of the stage until the climb and later on the last two climbs. Omar Fraile impressed us a lot, but also Gorka Izagirre spent a great day in the breakaway, protecting team’s interests and providing some help to Miguel Angel just before the decisive part of Col de la Loze. All the team is happy with this beautiful victory and it is also nice to take this win on the birthday of our general manager Alexandr Vinokurov. Great day. But we still have to be focused for 100% because the new hard days are coming. Everything is still open in this Tour de France and we have to keep on fighting day by day to reach our goals.”
After some attacks a group of 5 riders went away in a breakaway together with Astana’s Gorka Izagirre. Three riders, Izagirre, Julian Alaphilippe and Richard Carapaz were able to stay in front until the decisive part of the final climb, when the yellow jersey group caught them back.
With 3.5 km to go Miguel Angel Lopez launched his first attack, followed by Primoz Roglic, Sepp Kuss and Tadej Pogacar. After his new attack with 2.4 km to the top the Astana Pro Team rider opened a gap, and no one could close it.
Pogacar Moves Into Polka Dots
In addition to the consistency shown throughout the Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar showed on the brutal slopes of the Col de la Loze that he was also a fighter with great determination, qualities that allowed him to grab the polka dot jersey of the best climber of the race.
The long and treacherous final climb (21.4 km with an average gradient of 7.7% and sections over 20%) progressively split the group of riders in the general classification. The selection, where the excellent performance of David De La Cruz, able to lead the leading squad before Lopez jumped with the winning attack 2 km from the finish. Pogačar fought stubbornly to narrow the gap from Roglic, who set out in pursuit of the Colombian.
In the general classification, Roglic extended his advantage over Pogačar to 57″, with Lopez 3rd at 1’26″ from the yellow jersey; Pogačar continues to lead in the young rider rankings (+ 3’21 “on Enric Mas – Movistar) and in that of climbers + 3 points on Roglic).
“I lost a few seconds on what was a really hard climb,” Pogačar stated. “I gave my best, the team gave their best and we got third place on the day to show for it. Tomorrow we will be ready for another very tough stage and then there will also be the time trial on Saturday, the Tour is not over and anything can still happen.“
Alaphilippe Most Combative
Julian Alaphilippe returned to the Tour de France podium today to collect the prize awarded to the most aggressive rider of the day. A brace of attacks from Julian ignited the stage and helped a large group emerge from the peloton, building a 20-second gap. Despite the numerous men in the front, the break didn’t quite work, prompting Alaphilippe to get out of the saddle again on a short unclassified climb and make a selection, only four riders being capable of matching his tempo. Despite not being as sizeable as the first move, this group worked well together and padded their advantage to six minutes by the bottom of the Madeleine.
First used in 1969, this climb has become since then a classic on the Tour de France route, the most recent visit there being in 2018, when Julian was first at the top. Despite looking very promising at one point, the escapees’ chances of making it went up in smoke following a sudden change in the pace of the bunch, which cut down their gap to just two minutes by the time they crested the summit.
Alaphilippe pressed on the descent, injecting a new rhythm to the group, which ended up consisting of just three riders. His forcing helped the trio gain more than a minute, but despite this valiant all-out effort they were clawed back by the GC favourites on the torturous gradients of Col de la Loze, which in some sections exceeded 20%. It was there that Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) attacked and soloed to victory, ahead of Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), who retained the yellow jersey.
Julian took to the podium after the stage to collect the most combative rider of the stage prize, a well-deserved reward for the 28-year-old Frenchman, who was once again one of the race’s main animators, featuring in the break on both Alpine stages: “I knew what we would face today, as I did a recon with Dries and Bob a couple of weeks ago. To be honest, it wasn’t my goal to be in the break, but I felt good and attacked, and when I saw we had a gap I just kept pushing. You never know what can happen, so it’s always worth trying. It’s always nice to get the combativity trophy and really special to be again on the Tour de France podium.”
Bennett Cushions Sprint Lead
Alaphilippe’s Deceuninck – Quick-Step teammate Sam Bennett made it home with plenty of minutes to spare and will wear the green jersey on the last Alpine stage for the tenth time at this edition. On top of that, the 29-year-old Irish Champion added two more points to his tally in the classification, which he leads by a margin of 47 points over his closest rival.
“It was a tough one today. I put in a good fight at the beginning, tried to get some points and did it with the help of Michael. Then on the first climb it was quite ok, but towards the end it became harder, as the climb was in steps and the rhythm always changed. But I am glad that I ticked it off and will continue to fight for this jersey”, said Bennett atop Col de la Loze.
Roglic Extends Overall Lead
Primoz Roglic and Team Jumbo-Visma have done very well regarding the general classification in the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France. The leader of Team Jumbo-Visma finished second behind Miguel Angel Lopez on the steep Col de la Loze and gained some valuable time on Tadej Pogacar. Roglic now has a 57 seconds lead over his compatriot, seventeen more than before the stage.
In the queen stage the pace was, like almost every day, very high from the start. After Carapaz, the last rider of the original breakaway, was caught, Sepp Kuss increased the pace. Only Roglic, Lopez and Pogacar were able to follow. In the last three kilometres it was a man-to-man fight. Roglic and Kuss put the pressure on Pogacar, after which he had to let Roglic go. On the line, Roglic had a 15-second lead over his younger compatriot. In addition, he grabbed two bonus seconds. Kuss crossed the line in fourth place, Tom Dumoulin in tenth place.
“It was a very good day for us”, Roglic said. “I am very happy with what we have shown today and also with the time gained. Of course I would have liked to win the stage, but Lopez was a bit too strong. It was a very tough stage with a very steep final climb. When I see an opportunity, I attack, and so I did. Most importantly, apart from Lopez, I have gained time on my competitors. However, the Tour is not over yet and there are still three tough days to come. We have to stay focused and be ready for the attacks that we expect to come. The team was very strong. I cannot thank my teammates enough. Sepp in particular was impressive today. ”
Sepp Kuss rode a very strong stage in support of Roglic. “We reckoned this stage several times. But in a race it is different. I felt really good. The plan was that I would attack and force the competition to chase. Lopez and I had a little gap, but he was going so fast that I couldn’t follow him. I also didn’t want to blow myself up. I waited for Primoz and luckily he was good enough to gain time on Tadej. On a col like the Loze, with the many tempo changes, it is difficult to close a gap once it is there. This was a great day for us.”
Tom Dumoulin concurred with his two teammates. “This is an excellent result. We took time on Pogacar. We did not expect that, actually. We had the stage under control. Because of Bahrain’s work we didn’t have to chase. For us it was a great situation with that breakaway, because then the time bonuses were gone. We were represented well with six riders until the final climb. That was good. The final climb is a fair one and then you can see that Primoz is one of the best riders in this Tour.”
Stage 17 Brief Results:
- Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) 4:49:08
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) @ 15″
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) @ 30″
General classification after the 17th stage:
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 74:56:04
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) @ 57″
- Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) @ 1’26″
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