Cycling: The seventh stage of the Tour de France was the longest part of the day so far. 234 kilometers had to be covered from Epernay to Nancy. Difficulties awaited at the end. Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) coped best with these.
Initially, however, it was a group of six around the Pole Bartosz Huzarski (NetApp-Endura) and Martin Elmiger (IAM) that shaped the race at the front. The Cannondale team in particular ensured the pace in the field and kept the group on a short leash. As a result, the gap leveled off at around two minutes over long stretches of the route.
With almost 40 kilometers to go, Huzarski and Elmiger broke away from their competitors. While these were set relatively quickly by the field, the duo managed to stay ahead for another twenty kilometers.
The duo's escape was over at the first of the two mountain classifications. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) immediately took command. He was quickly able to gain a small lead over the field, while the sprinters in the field were no longer able to follow the team's bottom. In this, the Orica-GreenEdge team increased the number of strokes and soon also presented the French.
Shortly after the mountains classification, Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) fell on the descent. In the final ten kilometers, the US favorite in the overall standings was forced to chase after the field.
With seven kilometers to go, it was Cannondale again that set the pace for the second climb. The first attack then came from Cyril Gautier (Europcar). However, the Frenchman was not allowed to drive. Behind him, Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) led the group around the favorites back up. Then came the attack from Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), who secured the mountains classification ahead of Peter Sagan (Cannondale).
Both managed to break away from the other drivers, but Van Avermaet refused to take the lead against the fast Slovak. A kilometer from the finish both were caught again. Sagan didn't give up, though. At the finish he was only beaten by Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) in a photo finish. The Italian had opened the sprint and relegated the Frenchman Toni Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) to third place alongside Sagan.
The order at the top remained the same. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) continues to lead in front of Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Sagan. The Americans, however, were unlucky. In addition to Van Garderen, Andrew Talansky (Garmin Sharp) also fell. However, he fell on the home stretch and did not lose any time as a result.
Leave a Comment