The good form of Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech) allowed him to be part of the breakaway of the day and try his luck to take the best climber’s polka dot jersey in the ninth stage of the Tour de France, sunday.
Updated yesterday at 3:28 p.m.
Houle eased off with 18 kilometers to go out of the 193 between Aigle (Switzerland) and Châtel, while the yellow jersey group was only around thirty seconds away in order to preserve their energies for the future. He ranked 38e7 minutes 37 seconds behind the winner, Bob Jungels (AG2R Citroën).
“I am very, very proud of my day. It was very difficult to take the breakaway and I tried to play the mountain jersey a bit, but Simon Geschke (Cofidis) was much too strong”, admitted the native of Sainte-Perpétue, who did well impression in a very strong group of about twenty runners which was also joined by his teammate Guy Niv.
Among the most famous of the group, we found in particular the green jersey Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost) and the future winner of the day, Jungels, who took the solo escape 64 kilometers, after riding briefly with Geschke.
PHOTO MARCO BERTORELLO, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
Bob Jungels won the Tour for the first time.
With Uran well placed overall, this ensured that yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates managed the gap tightly. Jungels was able to resist Pinot who went against with just under 20 kilometers to go. The Frenchman got closer to 20 seconds without making the connection.
“It was a big battle to make the breakaway and our mission was to put Jakob [Fuglsang] or Michael [Woods] in front with a runner like me. Unfortunately, Woods crashed before the climb where the breakaway went. Jakob tried several shots on the climb and finally when the shot went we had no one so I jumped into the breakaway,” said Houle, who had six points in the best climber standings.
“If I had won the first two [sprints de montagne], I would have had the polka dot jersey. Today there were a lot of points to take. »
PHOTOGONZALO FUENTES, REUTERS
Tadej Pogačar kept his yellow jersey.
It was rather Geschke who put on the polka dot jersey at the end of the stage, and Houle does not regret having tried his luck. In fact, he is proud of his fitness level. His role in his team could also change if Woods remains affected by his fall on Sunday. The Ottawan, who “suffered a lot”, according to Houle, reached the finish line in 131e place (+ 27 min 35 s), in the same group as Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ), 95e. Guillaume Boivin (Israel-Premier Tech) followed in 158e up, nearly 36 minutes.
This is probably one of the best levels [de forme] that I never had. I have already made a few breakaways in the Tour de France, but today [dimanche]it was a very high level one.
Hugo Houle
Does Monday’s rest day come at the right time for him or would he have preferred to continue the momentum he started on Sunday?
“A rest day always comes at the right time,” concluded the athlete, tongue-in-cheek.
Magdeleine Vallières-Mill to the end of the Giro
Italian Chiara Consonni (Valcar-Travel & Service) won the tenth and final stage of the Women’s Tour of Italy in the sprint on Sunday.
Beyond her 68e place, 14 seconds behind, Magdeleine Vallières-Mill (EF Education–TIBCO-SVB) above all finished the first big lap of her career at the age of 20, securing the unofficial title of best Canadian in the competition of 10 stages, concluding at 38e rank, just over an hour and a quarter behind the winner, the Dutch Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar).
PHOTO FROM THE FACEBOOK ACCOUNT OF MAGDELEINE VALLIÈRES-MILL
Magdeleine Vallieres-Mill
What’s more, she ranks second in her training, behind the American Krista Doebel-Hickok, 15e. “I wasn’t really going there for a result, so I wasn’t expecting anything,” admitted the Sherbrooke resident, a little embarrassed.
“It’s cool, I got a few UCI points [Union cycliste internationale]. Personally, I remember that I felt better and better every day. And with the team, I learned to push my limits by trying to help my teammates. »
The young woman was particularly proud of her mountain race on Saturday, where she was part of the breakaway before helping her teammate Doebel-Hickok.
After this conclusive experience, Vallières-Mill will rest over the next few days.
“I’m going to catch up on a lot of sleep, school work and see what’s going on with the bike shop in Sherbrooke [dont son père est un des copropriétaires]. »