At the end of a stage with twists and turns, it was the Slovenian from Bahrain-Victorious who won at Poligny on Friday.
Crazy stage on the roads of the Tour, Friday July 21. With 173 kilometers to cover between Moirans-en-Montagne and Poligny, the spectacle promised to be thrilling, it did not disappoint. In the winning move, with Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quick Step) and Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën Team)the former winner of Milan-Sanremo resisted the Dane to win by a few centimeters at the photo-finish. This is the third victory for the state team in this 2023 edition, after the successes of Pello Bilbao and Wout Poels.
Leaving in pursuit of a Victor Campenaerts then alone in the lead 32 km from the finish, Kasper Asgreen, Matej Mohoric and Ben O’Connor never looked behind them again to reach the finish line at three. Already victorious on the roads of the Giro and the Vuelta in the past, Matej Mohoric wins his third victory in the Tour de France and swells an increasingly substantial record. After the death of Gino Mäder, the Tour of Mikel Landa’s teammates pays tribute to the Swiss.
Arriving in Poligny more than 13 minutes behind the winner, the yellow jersey group had a quiet day, during which Jonas Vingegaard was never worried. It only remains for him to pass the 20th stage, more rugged and steep, without incident, to ensure a second Tour de France.
Philipsen, Pedersen, Groenewegen, big losers of the day
Like the sprinters, who will have attacked a lot before admitting defeat, the runners tried a lot on Friday. If it took almost 60 km for the breakaway to form definitively, under the impetus of Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step) notably, the eight leading men were later joined by a group of 28 riders. Initiated by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck and green jersey) and other sprinters at the time of the intermediate sprint, this counter group, made up of Mathieu van der Poel, Christophe Laporte for example, was beaten by three of its members.
Trapped, but not stingy with effort, the big names in the sprint that are the green jersey, Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco AlUla) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), determined to give themselves a chance to win, have worked hard to believe in victory. But they had to give in to the power of the front men. Already trapped by Kasper Asgreen on Thursday, they miss a new opportunity to win a stage and will have to settle for a grouped finish on the Champs-Elysées.
