HOW THEY STAND NOW
Thomas gains time on Alaphilippe who cracks on final climb as Yates claims second victory
GERAINT THOMAS warned Yellow Jersey rivals Julian Alaphilippe and Thibaut Pinot to “bite the bullet” after the Tour de France leaderboard became as compressed as a busker’s accordion.
As fellow Brit Simon Yates won his second stage in four days with a superb solo breakaway, defending champion Thomas clawed back 32 seconds of his deficit on overall leader Alaphilippe in the Pyrenees.
Although other rivals in the general classification are now bunching behind him like bounty hunters, and he felt constrained by the dynamics of Team Ineos and their co-leadership strategy, Thomas is back in the mix for glory in Paris next weekend.
And for the first time, Alaphilippe looks vulnerable.
The charismatic Frenchman was so exhausted by the 115-mile transfer from
Limoux to Fois, with a nasty seven-mile climb to the finish, that he was throwing up, slumped against a afterwards.
Pinot, who lost 100 seconds to Thomas in the crosswinds on the way to Albi last week, suddenly looks like the Welshman’s biggest threat after wiping out the deficit over the weekend.
After his victory at the Tourmalet’s summit on Saturday, Pinot finished runner-up on stage 15 behind Yates on the ramps of the Prat d’Albis, but Thomas remains second overall, 1min 35sec off the lead.
Only 39 seconds separate Thomas from Emanuel Buchmann in sixth, but with Stage 15 (Limoux - Foix, 185km): 1 S Yates (GB/ Mitchelton-Scott) 4h 47m 04s, 2 T Pinot (Fra/GroupamaFDJ) +33s, 3 M Landa (Spa/ Movistar) same time
GC: 1 J Alaphilippe (Fra/ QuickStep) 61h 00m 22s,
2 G Thomas (GB/Ineos) +1m 35s, 3 S Kruijswijk (Hol/ Jumbo-Visma) +1m 47s barrier, Alaphilippe’s challenge heading towards the red zone, the Prince of Wheels was satisfied after a dramatic stage.
He could have trimmed Alaphilippe’s lead a little more, but Team Ineos are still hedging their bets in the belief young Colombian Egan Bernal can win Le Tour if their champion ‘G’ does not.
It’s the closest Tour de France for 30 years. Take your pick between the two French riders desperate to deliver the first home winner since 1985, Ineos co-leaders Thomas and Bernal, and Dutch dark horse Steven Kruijswijk. Thomas said: “It’s such a mental game now. Everyone will be feeling it, but you need to block out the tiredness, bite the bullet and dig in. I will look back and draw on my experiences from last year, and hopefully that will help. “I was suffering at times then as well, but it’s been a decent day all round.” Yates delivered another fine stage win for the Mitchelton-Scott team and he said: “It was extremely hard, but I raced how I like to – aggressive – and I managed to pull it off.”