Guillaume Boivin and Hugo Houle’s team, Israel–Premier Tech, managed to protect its leader on Thursday during the 18e stage of the Tour de France won by the German Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny). The Latvian Krists Neilands was able to resist and finish seventh at the end of the 179.5 kilometers between Gap and Barcelonnette.
“It was a very good day for us overall. We knew there was a great opportunity to take the breakaway and go all the way for the win, so that was my goal for today,” mentioned Quebecer Hugo Houle in an interview with Sportcom.
Despite several attacks, Houle managed to overcome the main difficulties in order to stay in the leading group to support his leader.
“We had to manage the situation as best we could, but in the end Krists Neilands took a big hit with five riders, so I stayed behind with the rest of the peloton and made it to the finish line like that,” added the 19th-place finisher.e of the day.
Frenchman Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies) and Polish Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers) finished second and third respectively in this stage.
Houle, originally from Sainte-Perpétue, revealed that the 19e The 144.6 kilometre stage between Embrun and Isola 2000 will not be easy this Friday.
“The next two stages will be extremely difficult with a big difference in altitude and a lot of climbs. We have a climb tomorrow on the highest road in Europe up to 2800 meters, so the altitude will play a role too.”
“My role will be to support Derek Gee who is in the top 10 of the general classification,” concluded Houle.