Once again, Quebecer Hugo Houle put in a superb performance with an honorable 20e square.
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A member of the chasing group, Houle briefly dropped out before returning to the yellow jersey group following the wheel of Welshman Geraint Thomas, winner of the Tour in 2018.
Three men were still battling it out in front of the title contenders, but Houle, still solid, was able to tackle the final ascent to Hautacam with none other than Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. What river on their screen, one more day, many local supporters.
Still solid
The superhuman efforts of Wout van Aert, teammate of the yellow jersey, got the better of the Quebecer, who finished 7 min 27 s behind the winner.
After a fine 3rd place in the 13th stage in Saint-Étienne on July 15, and a historic victory in the 16th stage on Tuesday, Houle still has fuel in the tank.
With such prowess, perhaps we should consider adding a 4e week at the Tour. “No, that’s enough! “Quickly replied the 31-year-old cyclist.
Always humble, the athlete simply said that he managed his stage well on Thursday. “Pogacar was driving too fast for me, but I saw a small group behind with Geraint Thomas. I still feel good after the emotions and the adrenaline. It is clear that I did a Tour de France beyond my expectations,” he added.
To Paris
On another subject, Houle applauded the great battle between Pogacar and Vingegaard. To the delight of fans, the two cyclists could compete for several years. “We must say thank you to the two UAE and Jumbo teams who are not afraid of anything. It looks less good for us, ”joked the Quebecer.
Barring a disaster, Houle should finish this Tour de France with a top 25 in the general classification and the best position of his team, Israel-Premier Tech.
With the withdrawal of his teammate Chris Froome, suffering from COVID, Houle remains as calm as possible. ” It’s a reality. I pay attention and we think about it. At the same time, what more can we do? he concluded.