Tour de France – Stage 20

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Pinot wins on the Alp whilst Quintana takes a minute out of Froome on Alpe d’Huez in the best stage yet but the Sky rider has done enough to win Le Tour

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Tour de France – Stage 20

ASO Press Release
Frenchman Thibaut Pinot claimed his second stage win at the Tour de France in the mythical Alpe d’Huez, three years after his debut at Porrentruy. It was brilliant win built collectively by FDJ with Alexandre Geniez attacking from the gun.

Pinot resisted the chase by Nairo Quintana who had attacked Chris Froome over and over until a gap start to grow just as he promised to do but the Kenyan-born rider kept an advantage of 1.12 over his arch-rival in the overall classification on the eve of the conclusive stage in Paris.

Pinot_TDF_Stage20

Thibaut Pinot: “The atmosphere up to L’Alpe Huez was impressive. I dropped Ryder Hesjedal at the Dutch corner, so I was pushed by the crowd. It’s been a great feeling. I’ve had hard times during this Tour de France but I never gave up. My morale was low after William Bonnet badly crashed, I was sick and I had a mechanical on the cobblestones. Lack of luck is part of sport, crashes and punctures are part of cycling, it also makes the beauty of cycling.”

“Despite all that, the atmosphere remained fantastic within the FDJ team. I need that kind of surroundings. I fought till the end. My team-mates also never gave up. That’s how Alexandre Geniez went away from the gun today and was a great help when I rejoined him at the front. Usually I follow the favorites and I attack but since I had a bad time in the Pyrenees, I became an attacker myself”.

“My goal was to reach Paris with no regret and my goal is reached. It was worth waiting. This is not my first win of the year, it’s the third one and all three have been at mountain top finishes (at Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse). A stage win might look less of an achievement than my third place overall last year but it’s been an interesting Tour de France for my future”.

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 ASO/B.Bade

A peloton of 160 riders took to the start of stage 20 at Modane Valfréjus. Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) attacked from the gun. Ramunas Navardauskas (Cannondale-Garmin) went with him. They were reinforced after 2km of racing by Lars Bak (Lotto-Soudal) and Nicolas Edet (Cofidis).

The quartet got a maximum lead of four minutes. Geniez rode away solo 6km before the summit of la Croix-de-Fer. He crested in first position while Movistar launched a spectacular move with 3km to go to the top of the climb.

Alejandro Valverde was first to attack the yellow jersey with 3km left to climb, Nairo Quintana did so too one kilometre further. They united their efforts before the top and Chris Froome was left with no team-mate but he always kept his adversaries in sight. No more than 15 seconds was the difference between the yellow jersey and the rider wanting to take it from Froome and the yellow jersey regrouped on the downhill.


Geniez in the lead at the entrance of the “stadium”
Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Winner Anacona (Movistar), Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin), Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Ruben Plaza and José Serpa (Lampre) launched a counter-attack with 50km to go. Geniez forged on to reach the bottom of the mythical ascent to L’Alpe d’Huez with an advantage of two minutes over nine counter-attackers: Pinot, Rolland, Anacona, Hesjedal, Plaza, Serpa, Navardauskas, Edet and Bak. The yellow jersey group was at four minutes.

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Pinot rejoined Geniez at the front with 9km to go and Hesjedal came across to them. At the same time, Valverde and Quintana attacked Froome on several occasions, starting their assault to the yellow jersey from near the bottom of the climb.

Quintana found his compatriot Anacona who was ahead and who dragged the White jersey along for a few kilometers on the way up L’Alpe d’Huez. Pinot rode away solo in search of the stage victory with 6km to go.

He courageously resisted the chase of Quintana who crossed the line in second position but with the help of Poels and Porte on the way up to the ski resort, Froome retained the yellow jersey by 1.12.

JERSEYS
Yellow: Froome
Green: Sagan
White: Quintana
KoM: Froome

Pic

REACTIONS
Nairo Quintana: “We fought all that we could to try and gain the time we had lost on Froome, with an attacking strategy from far, far away from the finish, trying to isolate him at the Croix de Fer, yet we couldn’t open a big gap and we had to give all into the final ascent. Winner Anacona did an amazing job for me, riding strong and steady through most of Alpe d’Huez, and the whole team helped me much from the very start, but it wasn’t to be today”.

“I leave the race satisfied. We lost the Tour in the first week, but I’ll stay content after all good things we found during this race: I’ve got an excellent team, which always took care and supported me, and we all are happy with this. Alejandro? I’m so, so excited about his podium finish. It’s something he searched for during most of his sporting career, and he got it today”.

“There’s many people who don’t know the kind of rider he is: he wins from January to December, no matter if it’s a classic, a one-week race… and even podium finishes in three-week grandtours. It’s already a decade since he’s on top of the sport and many people don’t value enough what he does, and criticized him. He’s a superb rider and a wonderful person.”

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ASO/G.Demouveaux

Chris Froome: “It’s unreal. I’m sure I haven’t quite take it all on board yet. It’s an unbelievable feeling to be sitting here still wearing this jersey. There were so many things going through my mind going up that last climb. There were moments where I thought, ‘hold on a second I could be in danger here’. But then always having my team-mates with me and having Wout and Richie there all the way until the end”.

“Especially after the job all the guys had done today. I thought of all the sacrifices and the weeks of training camps. Time away from my wife and my family. Everything starts going through your head and I was on my limit there. I was hurting going up that last climb. But I just had to find something else just to keep pushing and get through today. It was only 110km but it felt like it was 300! It was such a hard stage!”

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ASO/G.Demouveaux

Alejandro Valverde: “This GC podium is something I’ve been chasing all my life, and I finally got it today. It took so much, lots of suffering. In this moment, I remember my family, my four kids, the staff and team-mates from Movistar, everyone who supported me through my career”.

“It’s a wonderful taste to have finished third, since we gave all that we had. We jumped into the previous climb, also tried to leave Froome behind on previous stages… we just left everything on the road. I also sacrified myself Nairo, helped him out wherever it was needed – we came for the overall title and it went away by just over a minute.”

“Hats off to Froome – he managed the race well and was stronger. Our overview is exceptional: we’re jumping onto the podium as teams’ classification winners and myself and Nairo will be second and third overall – what else you can ask for.”

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ASO/G.Demouveaux

Peter Sagan: “Every year it’s different to fight for the green jersey and I think it’s more difficult to get the 2nd, 3rd and 4th green jersey. For sure I had a more diverse job here than the other sprinters but still I felt very well and I also tried my best after the flat stages to do something and overall I think it went well. It made taking the green jersey even more worthwhile that I had to work for Alberto, while a sprinter like Greipel could focus on the sprints. I have enough points, but I still have to cross the line in Paris”, says Peter Sagan before concluding.

“I did a very aggressive Tour de France from the start and until the last four mountain stages that were more for the climbers but still I did my best and this year I felt strong. But it’s not over yet. Now we will see how I will finish this Tour off on tomorrow’s stage.”

Albert Contador: “It’s true that there are riders that would dream of finishing fifth. For me that was not my objective but I’m glad that I tried. If I hadn’t tried then after my career I might have wondered whether I could have done the Giro-Tour double and now I know. I don’t think it’s impossible to do the double but it’s really complicated because nobody has the experience on how to prepare it”.


“Le Tour was very hard, I particularly felt fatigued and it’s also true that the crash three days ago took its toll. I can say I’m satisfied because I did an acceptable Tour. I think that Quintana did a good race today but couldn’t take more time on Froome because his team rode in an intelligent way. Next year we will completely change the plan and we will fully focus on the Tour with different ambitions and one goal. Now the focus for me is on 2016”.

“The truth is that this year, although the start of my season was quite calm, the main problem was the requirements of the Giro. I think that this Giro was very hard from the beginning due to Astana’s performance and left me exhausted everyday with long time trials and the final week, which was marked by extraordinary efforts. As a result, although my mind wanted to proceed my body needed more rest”, sums up Alberto Contador.

“However, I prefer having tried than being left with a desire to do it. For next year I plan my season similar to that of 2014 – to enjoy the start of the season in top shape and to do the Tour and then the Olympics. I think that next year’s Olympics is hard and as such can adapt to my style, which doesn’t happen often”.


Richie Porte: “It was unbelievably hard. Chris was not at his best today but it’s nice to see Thibaut win. It’s a great day for French cycling as well. The last three weeks were very hard, we had to defend the jersey for 18 days. Movistar tried everything today but to finish this way is just fantastic. Chris is a good friend for me, I was fighting so hard. I’m proud to have been the last man to fight by his side.”

Simon Yates: “I had done a recon of this climb, my brother wasn’t able to, and I think it showed at the end,” Simon said. “He really tried to dig deep and hold onto the favourites. With the wind, it was a big headwind today, once he was dropped he was on his own and that takes its toll. Because I’d done the recon, I knew the climb a bit more, I knew to save it until near the end and I made a really big push with just over three kilometres to go.”

2015_July_FSA_tdf_SM

STAGE 20
1 PINOT Thibaut FDJ 03h 17′ 21″
2 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander MOVISTAR TEAM @ 00′ 18″
3 HESJEDAL Ryder TEAM CANNONDALE-GARMIN @ 00′ 41″
4 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM @ 01′ 38″
5 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY @ 01′ 38″
6 ROLLAND Pierre TEAM EUROPCAR @ 01′ 41″
7 PORTE Richie TEAM SKY @ 02′ 11″
8 ANACONA GOMEZ Winner Andrew MOVISTAR TEAM @ 02′ 32″
9 POELS Wouter TEAM SKY @ 02′ 50″
10 PLAZA MOLINA Ruben LAMPRE – MERIDA @ 02′ 50″
11 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE @ 03′ 06″
12 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joachim TEAM KATUSHA @ 03′ 12″
13 JUNGELS Bob TREK FACTORY RACING @ 03′ 26″
14 MOLLEMA Bauke TREK FACTORY RACING @ 03′ 30″
15 NIBALI Vincenzo ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 03′ 30″
16 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF-SAXO @ 03′ 30″
17 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF-SAXO @ 03′ 30″
18 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 03′ 30″
19 KRUIJSWIJK Steven TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 03′ 30″
20 GESINK Robert TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 03′ 30″
21 VUILLERMOZ Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 04′ 16″
22 YATES Adam ORICA GREENEDGE @ 04′ 27″
23 FRANK Mathias IAM CYCLING @ 04′ 38″
24 EDET Nicolas COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS @ 04′ 53″
25 GENIEZ Alexandre FDJ @ 04′ 56″
26 SANCHEZ Samuel BMC RACING TEAM @ 05′ 01″
27 TALANSKY Andrew TEAM CANNONDALE-GARMIN @ 05′ 19″
28 MARTIN Daniel TEAM CANNONDALE-GARMIN @ 05′ 30″
29 FEDRIGO Pierrick BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT @ 05′ 53″
30 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO-SOUDAL @ 05′ 53″
31 BAKELANTS Jan AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 05′ 53″
32 CUMMINGS Stephen MTN-QHUBEKA @ 05′ 53″
33 PAUWELS Serge MTN-QHUBEKA @ 05′ 53″
34 BARGUIL WARREN TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN @ 05′ 53″
35 THOMAS Geraint TEAM SKY @ 05′ 53″
36 BAK Lars LOTTO-SOUDAL @ 06′ 26″
37 KREUZIGER Roman TINKOFF-SAXO @ 06′ 40″
38 ROCHE Nicolas TEAM SKY @ 06′ 43″
39 RIBLON Christophe AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 07′ 12″
40 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 07′ 12″
41 SERPA SANTANDER José LAMPRE – MERIDA @ 08′ 04″
42 VALLS FERRI Rafael LAMPRE – MERIDA @ 08′ 04″
43 OLIVEIRA Nelson LAMPRE – MERIDA @ 08′ 04″
44 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel MTN-QHUBEKA @ 08′ 09″
45 CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan MOVISTAR TEAM @ 08′ 09″
46 MATE MARDONES Luis Angel COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS @ 08′ 09″
47 WYSS Marcel IAM CYCLING @ 08′ 40″
48 NAVARRO GARCIA Daniel COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS @ 08′ 45″
49 CARUSO Gianpaolo TEAM KATUSHA @ 08′ 45″
50 BARTA Jan BORA-ARGON 18 @ 08′ 45″
51 SCARPONI Michele ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 08′ 55″
52 VOECKLER Thomas TEAM EUROPCAR @ 09′ 17″
53 SICARD Romain TEAM EUROPCAR @ 09′ 32″
54 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 10′ 36″
55 CHAVANEL Sylvain IAM CYCLING @ 11′ 04″
56 PANTANO GOMEZ Jarlinson IAM CYCLING @ 11′ 04″
57 MACHADO Tiago TEAM KATUSHA @ 11′ 27″
58 LOSADA ALGUACIL Alberto TEAM KATUSHA @ 11′ 27″
59 FUGLSANG Jakob ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 12′ 13″
60 CLEMENT Stef IAM CYCLING @ 12′ 26″
61 WEENING Pieter ORICA GREENEDGE @ 12′ 26″
62 GESCHKE Simon TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN @ 13′ 22″
63 HOLLENSTEIN Reto IAM CYCLING @ 13′ 30″
64 QUEMENEUR Perrig TEAM EUROPCAR @ 13′ 30″
65 ELMIGER Martin IAM CYCLING @ 13′ 50″
66 PÉRAUD Jean-Christophe AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 14′ 17″
67 ROGERS Michael TINKOFF-SAXO @ 14′ 17″
68 PIMANTA COSTA MENDES José Joao BORA-ARGON 18 @ 14′ 40″
69 BONO Matteo LAMPRE – MERIDA @ 14′ 49″
70 WYSS Danilo BMC RACING TEAM @ 14′ 49″
71 DURASEK Kristijan LAMPRE – MERIDA @ 14′ 49″
72 ERVITI OLLO Imanol MOVISTAR TEAM @ 14′ 49″
73 NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas TEAM CANNONDALE-GARMIN @ 15′ 05″
74 SIMON Julien COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS @ 15′ 10″
75 KUDUS GHEBREMEDHIN Merhawi MTN-QHUBEKA @ 17′ 36″
76 DEVOLDER Stijn TREK FACTORY RACING @ 17′ 36″
77 DELAPLACE Anthony BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT @ 17′ 36″
78 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS @ 19′ 26″
79 VANMARCKE Sep TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 19′ 26″
80 DENNIS Rohan BMC RACING TEAM @ 19′ 26″
81 OSS Daniel BMC RACING TEAM @ 19′ 26″
82 CARUSO Damiano BMC RACING TEAM @ 19′ 26″
83 VAN BAARLE Dylan TEAM CANNONDALE-GARMIN @ 19′ 26″
84 KELDERMAN Wilco TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 19′ 26″
85 MALORI Adriano MOVISTAR TEAM @ 19′ 26″
86 TIMMER Albert TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN @ 19′ 26″
87 HERRADA LOPEZ José MOVISTAR TEAM @ 19′ 26″
88 KONIG Leopold TEAM SKY @ 19′ 26″
89 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 19′ 26″
90 URAN URAN Rigoberto ETIXX-QUICK STEP @ 19′ 26″
91 VAN EMDEN Jos TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 19′ 52″
92 TANKINK Bram TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 19′ 59″
93 CURVERS Roy TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN @ 20′ 29″
94 SCHÄR Michael BMC RACING TEAM @ 20′ 29″
95 DE KORT Koen TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN @ 20′ 29″
96 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF-SAXO @ 21′ 19″
97 POZZATO Filippo LAMPRE – MERIDA @ 21′ 19″
98 SAGAN Peter TINKOFF-SAXO @ 21′ 19″
99 QUINZIATO Manuel BMC RACING TEAM @ 21′ 19″
100 KOREN Kristijan TEAM CANNONDALE-GARMIN @ 21′ 19″
101 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 21′ 19″
102 LADAGNOUS Matthieu FDJ @ 21′ 19″
103 ROY Jérémy FDJ @ 21′ 19″
104 VAUGRENARD Benoît FDJ @ 21′ 19″
105 COQUARD Bryan TEAM EUROPCAR @ 21′ 19″
106 PERICHON Pierre-Luc BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT @ 21′ 19″
107 RAST Gregory TREK FACTORY RACING @ 21′ 19″
108 BUCHMANN Emanuel BORA-ARGON 18 @ 21′ 19″
109 ROWE Luke TEAM SKY @ 21′ 19″
110 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE Haimar TREK FACTORY RACING @ 21′ 19″
111 TULIK ANGÉLO TEAM EUROPCAR @ 21′ 19″
112 PREIDLER Georg TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN @ 21′ 19″
113 NAULLEAU BRYAN TEAM EUROPCAR @ 21′ 19″
114 GAUTIER Cyril TEAM EUROPCAR @ 21′ 19″
115 GRIVKO Andriy ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 21′ 19″
116 GERARD Arnaud BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT @ 21′ 19″
117 VACHON Florian BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT @ 21′ 19″
118 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques MTN-QHUBEKA @ 21′ 19″
119 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald MTN-QHUBEKA @ 21′ 19″
120 VOSS Paul BORA-ARGON 18 @ 21′ 19″
121 STANNARD Ian TEAM SKY @ 21′ 19″
122 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka MOVISTAR TEAM @ 21′ 19″
123 HALLER Marco TEAM KATUSHA @ 21′ 19″
124 HANSEN Adam LOTTO-SOUDAL @ 21′ 19″
125 BRUN Fréderic BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT @ 21′ 19″
126 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE – MERIDA @ 21′ 19″
127 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO-SOUDAL @ 21′ 19″
128 GENE Yohann TEAM EUROPCAR @ 21′ 19″
129 GAUDIN Damien AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 21′ 19″
130 FEILLU Brice BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT @ 21′ 19″
131 WELLENS Tim LOTTO-SOUDAL @ 21′ 19″
132 HUZARSKI Bartosz BORA-ARGON 18 @ 21′ 55″
133 ARREDONDO MORENO Julian TREK FACTORY RACING @ 23′ 22″
134 STYBAR Zdenek ETIXX-QUICK STEP @ 23′ 57″
135 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE @ 23′ 57″
136 VERMOTE Julien ETIXX-QUICK STEP @ 23′ 57″
137 GREIPEL André LOTTO-SOUDAL @ 23′ 57″
138 SENECHAL Florian COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS @ 23′ 57″
139 IRIZAR ARRANBURU Markel TREK FACTORY RACING @ 23′ 57″
140 VANBILSEN KENNETH COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS @ 23′ 57″
141 DEBUSSCHERE Jens LOTTO-SOUDAL @ 23′ 57″
142 CHAVANEL Sébastien FDJ @ 23′ 57″
143 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Reinardt MTN-QHUBEKA @ 23′ 57″
144 SIEBERG Marcel LOTTO-SOUDAL @ 23′ 57″
145 TRENTIN Matteo ETIXX-QUICK STEP @ 23′ 57″
146 DEGENKOLB John TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN @ 23′ 57″
147 MARTENS Paul TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 23′ 57″
148 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS @ 23′ 57″
149 GUARNIERI Jacopo TEAM KATUSHA @ 23′ 57″
150 TEN DAM Laurens TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 23′ 57″
151 FONSECA Armindo BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT @ 23′ 57″
152 GOLAS Michal ETIXX-QUICK STEP @ 23′ 57″
153 LEEZER Thomas TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 23′ 57″
154 DURBRIDGE Luke ORICA GREENEDGE @ 23′ 57″
155 TUFT Svein ORICA GREENEDGE @ 23′ 57″
156 CAVENDISH Mark ETIXX-QUICK STEP @ 23′ 57″
157 DEMARE Arnaud FDJ @ 23′ 57″
158 FARRAR Tyler MTN-QHUBEKA @ 23′ 57″
159 KRISTOFF Alexander TEAM KATUSHA @ 23′ 57″
160 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING @ 23′ 57″

OVERALL
1 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY 81h 56′ 33″
2 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander MOVISTAR TEAM @ 01′ 12″
3 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM @ 05′ 25″
4 NIBALI Vincenzo ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 08′ 36″
5 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF-SAXO @ 09′ 48″
6 GESINK Robert TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO @ 10′ 47″
7 MOLLEMA Bauke TREK FACTORY RACING @ 15′ 14″
8 FRANK Mathias IAM CYCLING @ 15′ 39″
9 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 16′ 00″
10 ROLLAND Pierre TEAM EUROPCAR @ 17′ 30″
11 TALANSKY Andrew TEAM CANNONDALE-GARMIN @ 22′ 06″
12 SANCHEZ Samuel BMC RACING TEAM @ 22′ 50″
13 PAUWELS Serge MTN-QHUBEKA @ 31′ 03″
14 BARGUIL WARREN TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN @ 31′ 15″
15 THOMAS Geraint TEAM SKY @ 31′ 39″

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