Ion Izagirre emerged victorious from a difficult stage in uneven terrain which was marked by numerous attacks on Thursday at the Tour de France.
The cyclist from the Cofidis team signed his second career stage victory, on the occasion of the 12th chapter of the Tour de France. He crossed the finish line after three hours, 51 minutes and 42 seconds (3:51:42).
The 169 km route crossed the legendary Beaujolais vineyards, before taking the cyclists to two passes in the second part of the stage. The first two hours were spent at high speed, and a few dozen participants were dropped during the first 25 kilometers.
Izagirre broke away from a breakaway made up of experienced cyclists as they approached the final pass – a brutal 5.3km ascent to the Col de la Croix Rosier.
Crouching in an aerodynamic position, the Basque cyclist took enormous risks during the descent, before exploiting his great talent in the individual time trial to surprise his rivals during a 31 km solo breakaway.
” It’s incredible. Since the start of the Tour I have tried to escape, without success. But today, yes, said Izagirre. I had confidence in my power. I knew that I had taken enough lead so that I was not in the crosshairs of my opponents and that it was going to play to my advantage. »
This is the second victory for a cyclist from the Basque Country in this Grande Boucle, after Pello Bilbao got their hands on the 10th.
“It’s been a very Basque Tour de France so far,” said Izagirre. It started at home for us and we already have two wins. »
Mathieu Burgaudeau finished second in the stage, ahead of Matteo Jorgenson.
Hugo Houle, of Sainte-Perpétue, was the best Canadian cyclist by virtue of his 56th place, 11:25 from Izagirre. His compatriots Michael Woods of Ottawa and Guillaume Boivin of Montreal followed at 66th and 132nd.
Izagirre scored his previous stage victory at the Grande Boucle in 2016, having triumphed in the Alpine village of Morzine. He also signed stage victories in the Tour of Italy and the Tour of Spain.
The overall standings remained virtually the same. Jonas Vingegaard held on to his cushion of 17 seconds ahead of two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar after his main pursuers opted to remain in the main peloton for most of the day.
Woods is now 30th in the overall standings, ahead of Houle (77th) and Boivin (132nd).
The fight for the yellow jersey should resume on Friday, during the ascent of the Grand Colombier, a monstrous pass located in the Jura which will crown the 13th stage.
Jakobsen retires
Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen withdrew from the Tour de France at the dawn of the 12th stage, after indicating that he could not reach Paris after suffering a nasty fall earlier in the Grande Boucle.
The European champion, who is part of the Soudal-QuickStep team, fell heavily to the ground while riding at full speed during the fourth stage, and he struggled to recover. He decided it was time to head home shortly before the start of a hilly stage that will set the stage for three more grueling stages in the Jura and the Alps.
Jakobsen was second to last overall, more than two hours and 45 minutes behind Vingegaard.