Uran takes photo-finish revenge on Barguil
CHAMBÉRY (France): Rigoberto Uran beat Warren Barguil in a photo-finish to the Tour de France ninth stage on Sunday to gain revenge for an identical defeat four years ago.
Frenchman Barguil had claimed the narrowest of victories over Uran on the 16th stage of the 2013 Vuelta a Espana.
And when he crossed the line in Chambery on Sunday with his arm raised, he believed he’d done it again.
But this time the photo went the Colombian’s way.
“That’s the way it is, I’m really disappointed, I really thought I’d overtaken him,” said Barguil, who initially cried tears of joy before discovering he’d been pipped.
“I beat him once at the Vuelta in a photo-finish, it really is a shame, I really thought I’d passed him on the line.”
Despite his loss, Barguil took possession of the polkadot king of the mountains jersey after cresting the last two hors category mountains in the lead.
“I had a great day, I’m delighted, but I hoped to go all the way,” said Barguil, who was caught on the descent to the finish by compatriot Romain Bardet.
Bardet went on alone to try to take the win as Barguil was caught by a group of four chasers, including Uran and race leader Chris Froome.
That group caught Bardet just over 2km from the finish of the 181.5km stage from Nantua, setting up a six man sprint for the win.
“It’s something great. I’ve won a hugely important stage and I’m delighted,” said Uran, twice previously a runner-up at the Giro d’Italia but who had never shined at the Tour.
“I didn’t know if I’d won or not, when I was told it was a sweet surprise for me. “It was a tough day. I thought it was a joke when I was told I’d won because I really didn’t know.”
Bardet couldn’t hide his disappointment have made a daring attack on the rapid descent off the Mont du Chat climb that saw Richie Porte crash spectacularly out of the race.
Bardet’s lead over the chasers was around 25sec at one point, and with a possible 10-second bonus on the line for the winner, he was getting close to being the virtual leader of the Tour.
But in the end he had to settle for fourth on the stage, yet moved up to third overall at 51sec off Froome.
“It’s a shame, I wasn’t far away (from winning),” said the AG2R team leader.
“I expected a lot from that descent. We rode the race we wanted, the team was present all day and we took our responsibilities.
“When I caught Warren, I couldn’t allow myself to wait for him on the (short) climb (around 12km from the line), I had to increase my lead.
“In the finish I missed a gear the moment I went to sprint.
“Tonight, I have a lot of regrets.”