Impey takes advantage of leaders taking the day off
BRIOUDE, FRANCE >> On days at the Tour de France when the top racers decide to take it easy, that’s the signal for other riders not chasing the overall title to seize the opportunity to shine.
On Sunday, Daryl Impey was that man. Profiting from what amounted to a goslow among top contenders on Stage 9, who decided to chill on the hilly trek across the Massif Central mountains, Impey made sure that he was in the breakaway group of riders who scooted away after the start in Saint-Etienne. He then beat Belgian rider Tiesj Benoot in a two-maImpeyn sprint at the finish in the agricultural town of Brioude.
“It’s such a lottery trying to make the break,” Impey said. “Luck was on my side.”
Favorites for the Tour title in Paris on July 28 cruised into Brioude more than 16 minutes later, so casually that some chatted and drank from water bottles. French rider Julian Alaphilippe, who’d been cheered on by roadside fans celebrating France’s Bastille Day holiday, kept the race lead and there were no changes of note in the positions of other top contenders, including defending champion Geraint Thomas. He is still fifth overall, 72 seconds behind Alaphilippe.
“It’s just amazing, the support from the public,” Alaphilippe said. “It’s a day I will never forget.”
After a harrowing and exhausting Stage 8, and with tough climbs to come in the Pyrenees and, later, in the Alps, top contenders took a breather on the 106-mile stage of undulating hills.
Impey is only the second South African stage winner at the Tour — Robert Hunter also won a stage in 2007. “Magical,” he said. “A beautiful day.” Impey pointed to the South African flag printed on his jersey as he crossed the line.
Frenchman Romain Bardet, a two-time podium finisher who has already lost considerable ground in the general classification, attacked on the Cote de St Just (2.2 miles at 7.2 percent), 8.07 miles from the finish.
He was followed by Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk and Australian Richie Porte but the trio were easily reined in by defending champion Geraint Thomas’s Ineos team.
Following a hectic finale in Saturday’s eighth stage which saw Frenchman Thibaut Pinot gain almost half a minute on Thomas and the defending champion take a tumble, there were no fireworks on Bastille Day.
A 15-man breakaway, featuring former Tour individual stage winners Tony Martin and Edvald Boasson Hagen, opened a gap of more than 10 minutes.
Italian Alessandro De Marchi was taken to a hospital with facial injuries after a nasty crash, his CCC team said.
The three-time Vuelta a Espana stage winner crashed after 4.9 miles and was first attended to by the race’s medical staff as he lay face down.
At the front, Benoot and Impey emerged as the strongest men at top of the Cote de St Just and the South African, who snatched the yellow jersey in Nice six years ago when his team won the time trial, was the fastest to the line.