Alaphilippe drops Roglic to seize the lead
French rider well set for Tour of Britain victory Team Sky’s Poels wins stage and is now second
Julian Alaphilippe took a huge step towards winning the 2018 Ovo Energy Tour of Britain yesterday, dropping Primoz Roglic on the final climb of the race’s queen stage in Cumbria to usurp the Slovenian at the top of the general classification.
Alaphilippe – the King of the Mountains at the Tour de France in July – has been the outstanding rider of the week. Despite not having led the race until yesterday, it seems inconceivable that anyone will depose the French rider. Today’s penultimate stage from West Bridgford to Mansfield is almost guaranteed to end in a bunch sprint, and the final leg around central London will not afford his GC rivals much of an opportunity to attack.
Wout Poels (Team Sky) is the best placed to do so. The Dutchman won yesterday’s stage to move up to second overall. But with a 17-second deficit, Poels all but conceded defeat, saying he would need the 10 bonus seconds on offer for each day’s stage winner.
“You never know,” joked Poels. “Maybe if I win the next two bunch sprints. It’s going to be difficult.”
Poels – who joked it was nice to have Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas riding for him “for a change” – played his hand perfectly in the Lake District.
Lottonl Jumbo and Quickstep reeled in a four-man escape group, which featured young Britons Conor Swift (Madison-genesis) and James Shaw (Lotto-soudal) and when that quartet were swept up on Whinlatter Pass, the key moment of the entire race so far played out. Quickstep’s Bob Jungels set a fearsome pace to split the GC group immediately, with Alaphilippe following his wheel and Preston’s Hugh Carthy also in the mix. Poels caught the leaders a couple of kilometres from the summit and then rode clear of Alaphilippe.
“It was almost like Dutch Corner on that climb,” said Poels, referring to the famous corner on Alpe d’huez where rowdy Dutch fans gather when the Tour de France passes. “Riding for a UK team means everyone cheering for you.”