Hugo Houle finished third in the 13e stage of the Tour de France, Friday, in Saint-Étienne, his best result in life on the biggest cycling event in the world.
Posted at 11:38 a.m.
Updated at 12:04 p.m.
The Israel-Premier Tech cyclist presented himself in the last kilometer on the first wheel with his last two breakaway companions, the Dane Mads Pedersen (Trek) and the Briton Fred Wright (Bahrain).
Big favorite of this trio, the former world champion Pedersen launched the first in the 300 meters, a maneuver in which Wright (2e) and Swell (3e) could not answer.
The Quebecer finished seventh in the 12e stage of the Tour in 2020, his best ranking so far.
With nearly 150 km to go, Houle slipped into a long seven-rider breakaway thanks to a counter chase. With Wright, Perdersen (Trek) and Quinn Simmons, he joined a leading trio made up of Stefan Küng (Groupama), Filippo Ganna Ineos) and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar).
After a long chase in the heat, the peloton got up with 12 km to go. Pedersen attacked immediately and only Wright and Houle were able to follow him.
The native of Sainte-Perpétue tried his luck with 8 km to go, but Pedersen was quick to react. The Dane, crowned world champion in 2019, was not going to miss the opportunity to sign his very first victory on the Tour.
“I was happy to stay close to Mads Pedersen and finish third,” Houle said, relayed by his Israel-Premier Tech team’s Twitter account. With the breakaway we had, I know I can be proud of myself. It’s my best race ever at the Tour. »