Boasson Hagen wins first Tour stage

SALON-DEPROVENCE, France — After two secondplace finishes, Edvald Boasson Hagen finally got a stage victory at this Tour de France. Chris Froome and the other top riders took it easy, saving themselves for their last big fight this weekend.

Boasson Hagen, from Norway, caught the right breakaways on the longest stage and used all of his guile and strength to hold off chasers in the final section on Friday.

Boasson Hagen was part of a 20-man group that Froome and Team Sky gave freedom to escape from the peloton because none of them presented a threat to his overall lead. After two energy-sapping days of climbs in the Alps, Froome and his rivals had their sights set instead on the time trial on Saturday in Marseille that will determine the podium order before the race ends in Paris on Sunday.

At the finish of Stage 19 in Salon-de Provence, Boasson Hagen and German rider Nikias Arndt went right around a roundabout while others went left. Their route proved shorter. Capitalizing on that slight lead, Boasson Hagen left Arndt behind with a quick acceleration and used his strength on the flat to power to the finish. Arndt placed second, five seconds back.

Third-placed Jens Keukeleire was among those who went left around the roundabout and immediately realized they’d made a mistake, as Boasson Hagen pulled away.

“That’s when it struck me: We should have taken right,” Keukeleire said. “He’s one of those riders, give him 10 meters and he’s gone.”