Tour stage winner does it for his Dad
ALEXIS Vuillermoz said he had been inspired by his late father as he gave the host country their first victory at the Tour de France this year with success on yesterday’s eighth stage.
The 27-year-old former mountain biker took his chance with 800m left on the tough finish at the Mur de Bretagne to take a solo victory.
“After winning I thought about my dad, who died three years ago. He was the one who got me interested in the Tour de France, he used to take my cousins and I to the side of the road to watch the Tour go past,” said Vuillermoz. “I hope today he’s proud of me.”
Ireland’s Dan Martin timed his counterattack a shade too late and finished second, frustrated at having been too slow to react. A shredded peloton arrived next with Spaniard Alejandro Valverde ahead of Slovakia’s Peter Sagan and Frenchman Tony Gallopin.
Chris Froome finished eighth in the same group to maintain his overall lead by 11sec from Sagan, while American Tejay Van Garderen is third at 13sec.
But Froome, the 2013 winner, did strike another blow to reigning champion Vincenzo Nibali, who lost 10 seconds as he was dropped by the lead group on the 2km climb to the finish with its 6.9% gradient. He is now 13th overall at 1min 48sec.
Froome said it was a shock to hear Nibali had struggled.
“I was very surprised to hear that actually, especially given that up the final climb it was predominantly into a headwind up there, which made it relatively easy to stay on the wheels,” he said.
Two-time former winner Alberto Contador and Colombian Nairo Quintana stayed with the lead group, though, finishing 14th and 17th respectively to remain at 36sec and 1min 56sec off Froome.
After today’s team time-trial and tomorrow’s rest day, the true battle commences on Tuesday’s first mountain-top finish at La Pierre-Saint Martin with a final 15.3km, 7.4% gradient climb to the summit.
Vuillermoz’s victory went some way to glossing over what had been a disappointing Tour for France so far. Not only did they have to wait eight stages for a winner but overall hopes Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet’s hopes of a podium finish have faded almost daily. Both lost a little more time and now sit 29th at 6min 33sec and 20th at 3min 15sec respectively.
AG2R’s Vuillermoz, though, impressed with his willingness to attack on the final climb, even leaving Froome in his wake in making the decisive move.
“Back in my mountain bike days, even when I was next to a great champion I wasn’t afraid to attack them,” he said.
“On the road it’s the same, they’ve got two legs and two arms like the rest of us, so I have no problem trying to attack them. Chris Froome is a great champion, he’s a much better rider than me but what’s beautiful about road racing is you can beat them riding smartly.
“Today I felt great but I think I also managed to exploit my opportunity.” Froome admitted he was impressed with Vuillermoz’s performance. — AFP
OH YES: Alexis Vuillermoz wins the eighth stage