Tour de France: Stage 19

Snow storm and mudslide cause stage to be stopped; times taken at top of col d’Iseran where Egan Bernal went over the top first and now leads overall

Tour de France: Stage 19

Egan Bernal was first over the top of the Col d’Iseran where the times of stage 19 were taken as stormy conditions caused the race to be halted because of huge amounts of hail on the road on the descent. Bernal was declared the winner and became the third Colombian to take the yellow jersey after Victor Hugo Peña in 2003 and Fernando Gaviria last year. Julian Alaphilippe is second and Geraint Thomas third. Thibaut Pinot abandoned in tears when an injury proved to much for him to carry on.

Pic: Getty Images

156 riders started stage 19 in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. After 4km of racing and a demanding uphill start, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Pello Bilbao (Astana), Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) and Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) on the day of his 29th birthday rode away.

The front part of the peloton remained very active and the leading quartet was caught at km 35 by a group that had escaped from the main bunch while Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) was in distress.

Hampered by a left knee injury, the Frenchman, who was fifth on GC had no choice but to pull out at km 36. A group of 29 riders formed at the front after 50km of racing: Dylan van Baarle (Ineos), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hasngrohe), Tony Gallopin (AG2R-La Mondiale), Vincenzo Nibali and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida), Sébastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ), Alejandro Valverde, Marc Soler and Andrey Amador (Movistar), Pello Bilbao, Gorka Izagirre, Magnus Cort and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Laurens De Plus (Jumbo-Visma), Rigoberto Uran, Alberto Bettiol and Michael Woods (EF Education First), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Dan Martin and Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), Giulio Ciccone and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Michael Matthews (Sunweb), Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Roman Kreuziger (Dimension Data), Warren Barguil and Elie Gesbert (Arkéa-Samsic).

Team Ineos led the peloton strongly until AG2R-La Mondiale took over at the bottom of the col d’Iseran while the time difference was 1.40. After a maximum gap of two minutes had been recorded at km 60, Geraint Thomas attacked with 6.5km to go. It was the beginning of the assault for the yellow jersey. Barguil soloed at the front for a little while until Egan Bernal rode across to him 4.5km before the summit, followed by Nibali, Simon Yates and Uran.

Bernal dropped his opponents one by one to reach the top alone just ahead of Simon Yates who caught Bernal on the descent. But the race was being cancelled at that point and the times taken for the GC at the top of the climb. Bernal who crested it first, 2.07 before Alaphilipe, thus becomes the new leader of the Tour de France with two days to go with an advantage of 45″ over the Frenchman Alaphilippe and 1.3″ over Thomas. No stage winner was declared for stage 19.

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Egal Bernal: “To be honest, I didn’t know what was happening. I’ve been told in the radio that the race was finished and I said ‘no I want to keep going’. There were talking to me in English and I was not sure. Only after I stopped and my director told me that I was in yellow, I felt relieved. It’s incredible. I can’t believe it. I want to ride full gas tomorrow and then arrive to Paris and once I cross the line, I’ll start believing this is true. There’s one hard stage remaining. It’s a short one. I’ll give it all on the road. To become the first Colombian winner of the Tour de France would be amazing.”

Geraint Thomas: “If was a funny one because if we’d known [about the cancellation] beforehand it would have been more of a race to the top of that last climb. But it’s one of those things. It’s out of everyone’s control. It’s all ifs and buts. The main thing is that we’ve got the jersey in the team now and we’re in a great position. We just have to go in there and finish the job off tomorrow now.”

“Going into the last stage Egan’s in yellow. The main thing is he finishes the job. For sure he’ll have a decent advantage over everyone else. I fully support him now. He’s been incredible from the start and he’s a phenomenal talent.”

Julian Alaphilippe: He wore yellow for 14 days “I don’t think the yellow is still possible,” said Alaphilippe. “I am beaten by riders who are stronger than me. That’s just the way it is. I expected it. I gave everything and I cannot blame myself. It was a dream to wear this jersey. I was able to keep this dream longer than expected and I fought every day. When I put on this jersey, I started to dream. But I never thought I could win the Tour.”

Simon Yates: “The climb was filthy, it was long, there was no oxygen. I was feeling good, I just got tailed off in the end there but I came back on the descent so I was looking forward to trying for the stage. It was a disappointing day in the end. I tried to be there in the front but you can’t change the weather, that’s how it goes sometimes. Tomorrow is another day, another hard day, another short day and we will try again.”

Romain Bardet: “We didn’t know there were terrible weather conditions. I heard it through the radio but I was riding on a relax mode. My race was already done and I was saving energy for tomorrow. Considering the experience of the people who took the decision to stop the race, it’s for sure the right decision for the health of the riders. I’ve had a bad day today. Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow and I’ll have to be better tactically.”

Alejandro Valverde: “It was a bit of a strange day, wasn’t it? We were into the early break only thinking about the main group, on having Mikel go for his chance and hopefully give him a hand. Once we started the downhill, with Mikel already in a good position ahead, ‘Arri’ started to scream on the radio that the stage was cancelled, that there was so much hail on the ground and some landslides on the road. We stopped in Val d’Isère and Christian Prudhomme explained to us there that it was all blocked and we couldn’t keep on racing, it was over. They told us they were most probably going to take the times up at the top of the Iseran. We couldn’t really do anything else, other than getting into the cars, going to the finish and starting thinking about tomorrow’s final battle.”

Emanuel Buchmann “It was a strange situation and one I had never encountered before, to be told on race radio to stop. Initially, there was a bit of disbelief in my group but then we talked about it, realised we all had the same information, so we stopped. I think it was obvious to everybody that it wasn’t possible to ride through the hail and mud. I was feeling very well today and maybe in the final climb there could have a possibility for me but we can’t change the situation. Given this, the race will come down to what happens tomorrow. I’m still confident, I feel strong and I’d like to thank Gregor for his help today. He was strong and managed to hold on with me for a long time. It’s important to be fully focused tomorrow. I think that some of the contenders that are a bit further down the GC now will already give it a shot in the first climb. There will be nothing to lose for them so it will be all in. If I have the legs, I will also try to attack because there is nothing any longer that holds you back. It will be full-on tomorrow!”

Warren Barguil: “There was a lot of frustration after yesterday’s stage. I saw the breakaway go to the end and Quintana come back to the GC and I was not in it. This morning, I really wanted to be in front. On the first difficulty, I forced it, some said that I was too generous in with effort, but that’s how I conceive the bike. In the second week, I followed the best even if I had fun on the Tourmalet. Today, I was on the offensive and I wanted to play the shot thoroughly”.

“I was caught 1.5 km from the summit by Bernal and then everything went quickly. In the last 500 meters, I took the time to take a newspaper and to make a nice descent and in the interim I began to have the first indications that the race was going to be stopped. At that moment we did not know what to do, we slow down but we see other riders do the descent. There was a bit of frustration because I passed the Iseran with the Tour’s top five, but when I got into my manager’s car and saw the pictures, I thought it was the right decision”.

“On one hand, I’m doing a great step but I think it could have been even better because I had left behind Valverde, Porte, Quintana. I was on a good day but the result in the general classification is not at the end. It’s sport, I could have also fallen on the descent if the race had been maintained. I look at the positives and today I had great pleasure”.

Provisional Stage Result (no official result given)
1. Egan Bernal
2. Simon Yates, at 5″
3. Warren Barguil, at 41″
4. Laurens De Plus, at 50″
5. Steven Kruijswijk
6. Geraint Thomas
7. Emanuel Buchmann
8. Vincenzo Nibali all st
9. Richie Porte, at 1.18″
10. Gregor Mühlberger st
11. Wout Poels, at 1.50″
12. Damiano Caruso
13. Alejandro Valverde, all st
14. Julian Alaphilippe, at 2.07″
15. Rigoberto Uran, at 2.30″

Overall
1 Egan Bernal Team Ineos –
2 Julian Alaphilippe Deceuninck – Quick – Step @ 48″
3 Geraint Thomas Team Ineos @ 1.16″
4 Steven Kruijswijk Team Jumbo – Visma @ 1.28″
5 Emanuel Buchmann Bora – Hansgrohe @ 1.55″
6 Mikel Landa Meana Movistar Team @ 4.35″
7 Rigoberto Uran Ef Education First @ 5.14″
8 Nairo Quintana Movistar Team @ 5.17″
9 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team @ 6.25″
10 Richie Porte Trek – Segafredo @ 6.28″
11 Warren Barguil Team Arkea – Samsic @ 7.03″
12 Guillaume Martin Wanty – Gobert Cycling Team @ 16.18″
13 David Gaudu Groupama – Fdj @ 20.45″
14 Fabio Aru Uae Team Emirates @ 23.14″
15 Roman Kreuziger Team Dimension Data @ 26.10″
16 Romain Bardet Ag2r La Mondiale @ 26.26″
17 Alexey Lutsenko Astana Pro Team @ 40.17″
18 Sébastien Reichenbach Groupama – Fdj @ 40.45″
19 Daniel Martin Uae Team Emirates @ 42.37″
20 George Bennett Team Jumbo – Visma @ 44.27″
21 Xandro Meurisse Wanty – Gobert Cycling Team @ 46.44″
22 Jesus Herrada Cofidis, Solutions Credits @ 48.32″
23 Enric Mas Deceuninck – Quick – Step @ 52.53″
24 Laurens De Plus Team Jumbo – Visma @ 58.07″
25 Gregor Mühlberger Bora – Hansgrohe @ 1h 03.48″
26 Tanel Kangert Ef Education First @ 1h 06.26″
27 Bauke Mollema Trek – Segafredo @ 1h 06.31″
28 Greg Van Avermaet Ccc Team @ 1h 11.14″
29 Patrick Konrad Bora – Hansgrohe @ 1h 11.37″
30 Wout Poels Team Ineos @ 1h 11.52″
31 Rudy Molard Groupama – Fdj @ 1h 12.19″
32 Julien Bernard Trek – Segafredo @ 1h 13.20″
33 Giulio Ciccone Trek – Segafredo @ 1h 13.35″
34 Mikael Cherel Ag2r La Mondiale @ 1h 13.35″
35 Adam Yates Mitchelton – Scott @ 1h 14.37″
36 Michael Woods Ef Education First @ 1h 15.51″
37 Jack Haig Mitchelton – Scott @ 1h 27.36″
38 Jasper Stuyven Trek – Segafredo @ 1h 27.45″
39 Nicolas Roche Team Sunweb @ 1h 29.41″
40 Alexis Vuillermoz Ag2r La Mondiale @ 1h 31.02″
41 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti Astana Pro Team @ 1h 31.44″
42 Marc Soler Movistar Team @ 1h 32.47″
43 Vincenzo Nibali Bahrain – Merida @ 1h 36.53″
44 Lennard Kämna Team Sunweb @ 1h 36.59″
45 Matteo Trentin Mitchelton – Scott @ 1h 37.05″
46 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya Uae Team Emirates @ 1h 37.10″
47 Dylan Van Baarle Team Ineos @ 1h 39.56″
48 Dylan Teuns Bahrain – Merida @ 1h 40.52″
49 Mathias Frank Ag2r La Mondiale @ 1h 41.22″
50 Jonathan Castroviejo Team Ineos @ 1h 43.17″
51 Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia Astana Pro Team @ 1h 50.14″
52 Simon Yates Mitchelton – Scott @ 1h 51.28″
53 Damiano Caruso Bahrain – Merida @ 1h 51.31″
54 Rui Costa Uae Team Emirates @ 1h 51.32″
55 Ilnur Zakarin Team Katusha Alpecin @ 1h 52.54″
56 Tiesj Benoot Lotto Soudal @ 1h 53.40″
57 Andrey Amador Movistar Team @ 1h 55.07″
58 Simon Clarke Ef Education First @ 1h 55.46″
59 Simon Geschke Ccc Team @ 1h 56.01″
60 Fabio Felline Trek – Segafredo @ 1h 56.32″
61 Tony Gallopin Ag2r La Mondiale @ 1h 57.11″
62 Pierre Luc Perichon Cofidis, Solutions Credits @ 1h 58.28″
63 Michael Matthews Team Sunweb @ 2h 00.37″
64 Oliver Naesen Ag2r La Mondiale @ 2h 00.46″
65 Thomas De Gendt Lotto Soudal @ 2h 01.31″
66 Benjamin King Team Dimension Data @ 2h 02.21″
67 Nils Politt Team Katusha Alpecin @ 2h 02.44″
68 Alberto Bettiol Ef Education First @ 2h 03.27″
69 Rein Taaramäe Total Direct Energie @ 2h 07.21″
70 Michael Schär Ccc Team @ 2h 08.57″
71 Edvald Boasson Hagen Team Dimension Data @ 2h 10.42″
72 Serge Pauwels Ccc Team @ 2h 15.26″
73 Omar Fraile Matarranz Astana Pro Team @ 2h 16.25″
74 Michael Valgren Team Dimension Data @ 2h 17.23″
75 Maxime Bouet Team Arkea – Samsic @ 2h 17.26″
76 Joseph Rosskopf Ccc Team @ 2h 21.18″
77 Daryl Impey Mitchelton – Scott @ 2h 21.59″
78 Toms Skujins Trek – Segafredo @ 2h 22.07″
79 Michal Kwiatkowski Team Ineos @ 2h 23.11″
80 Nelson Oliveira Movistar Team @ 2h 24.05″
81 Gianni Moscon Team Ineos @ 2h 26.13″
82 Peter Sagan Bora – Hansgrohe @ 2h 28.49″
83 Elie Gesbert Team Arkea – Samsic @ 2h 30.43″
84 Romain Sicard Total Direct Energie @ 2h 32.32″
85 Andrea Pasqualon Wanty – Gobert Cycling Team @ 2h 32.52″
86 Sonny Colbrelli Bahrain – Merida @ 2h 33.28″
87 Daniel Oss Bora – Hansgrohe @ 2h 36.23″
88 Anthony Perez Cofidis, Solutions Credits @ 2h 38.16″
89 Natnael Berhane Cofidis, Solutions Credits @ 2h 38.47″
90 Jan Tratnik Bahrain – Merida @ 2h 42.02″
91 Tim Wellens Lotto Soudal @ 2h 42.12″
92 Anthony Delaplace Team Arkea – Samsic @ 2h 42.47″
93 Dries Devenyns Deceuninck – Quick – Step @ 2h 43.07″
94 Amael Moinard Team Arkea – Samsic @ 2h 44.06″
95 Mike Teunissen Team Jumbo – Visma @ 2h 46.21″
96 Hugo Houle Astana Pro Team @ 2h 47.33″
97 Stéphane Rossetto Cofidis, Solutions Credits @ 2h 48.27″
98 Paul Ourselin Total Direct Energie @ 2h 48.55″
99 Jens Keukeleire Lotto Soudal @ 2h 50.34″
100 Stefan Küng Groupama – Fdj @ 2h 51.41″
101 Anthony Roux Groupama – Fdj @ 2h 53.25″
102 Imanol Erviti Movistar Team @ 2h 55.56″
103 Sven Erik Bystrøm Uae Team Emirates @ 2h 59.07″
104 Kevin Ledanois Team Arkea – Samsic @ 2h 59.36″
105 Lilian Calmejane Total Direct Energie @ 3h 01.06″
106 Julien Simon Cofidis, Solutions Credits @ 3h 03.47″
107 Christopher Juul Jensen Mitchelton – Scott @ 3h 04.19″
108 Ivan Garcia Cortina Bahrain – Merida @ 3h 05.30″
109 Vegard Stake Laengen Uae Team Emirates @ 3h 06.17″
110 Magnus Cort Nielsen Astana Pro Team @ 3h 07.12″
111 Carlos Verona Quintanilla Movistar Team @ 3h 07.15″
112 Nikias Arndt Team Sunweb @ 3h 07.40″
113 Odd Christian Eiking Wanty – Gobert Cycling Team @ 3h 08.36″
114 Luke Durbridge Mitchelton – Scott @ 3h 08.40″
115 Mads Würtz Team Katusha Alpecin @ 3h 09.02″
116 Benoit Cosnefroy Ag2r La Mondiale @ 3h 09.22″
117 Matej Mohoric Bahrain – Merida @ 3h 12.29″
118 Jasper De Buyst Lotto Soudal @ 3h 13.33″
119 Alexis Gougeard Ag2r La Mondiale @ 3h 15.55″
120 Kasper Asgreen Deceuninck – Quick – Step @ 3h 16.57″
121 Fabien Grellier Total Direct Energie @ 3h 19.40″
122 Florian Vachon Team Arkea – Samsic @ 3h 25.19″
123 Lukasz Wisniowski Ccc Team @ 3h 25.32″
124 Frederik Backaert Wanty – Gobert Cycling Team @ 3h 25.52″
125 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg Team Dimension Data @ 3h 26.33″
126 Matthieu Ladagnous Groupama – Fdj @ 3h 26.40″
127 Koen De Kort Trek – Segafredo @ 3h 27.05″
128 José Gonçalves Team Katusha Alpecin @ 3h 31.12″
129 Anthony Turgis Total Direct Energie @ 3h 33.57″
130 Yves Lampaert Deceuninck – Quick – Step @ 3h 34.04″
131 Elia Viviani Deceuninck – Quick – Step @ 3h 35.25″
132 Chad Haga Team Sunweb @ 3h 36.05″
133 Caleb Ewan Lotto Soudal @ 3h 36.23″
134 Tom Scully Ef Education First @ 3h 36.39″
135 Stephen Cummings Team Dimension Data @ 3h 38.24″
136 Aime De Gendt Wanty – Gobert Cycling Team @ 3h 39.02″
137 Alexander Kristoff Uae Team Emirates @ 3h 39.41″
138 Amund Jansen Team Jumbo – Visma @ 3h 41.23″
139 Niccolò Bonifazio Total Direct Energie @ 3h 42.20″
140 Marcus Burghardt Bora – Hansgrohe @ 3h 43.39″
141 Dylan Groenewegen Team Jumbo – Visma @ 3h 46.37″
142 André Greipel Team Arkea – Samsic @ 3h 46.57″
143 Maximiliano Richeze Deceuninck – Quick – Step @ 3h 47.41″
144 William Bonnet Groupama – Fdj @ 3h 47.49″
145 Michael Hepburn Mitchelton – Scott @ 3h 48.03″
146 Kevin Van Melsen Wanty – Gobert Cycling Team @ 3h 48.54″
147 Roger Kluge Lotto Soudal @ 3h 50.33″
148 Marco Haller Team Katusha Alpecin @ 3h 50.34″
149 Lars Bak Ytting Team Dimension Data @ 3h 51.14″
150 Alex Dowsett Team Katusha Alpecin @ 3h 53.15″
151 Maxime Monfort Lotto Soudal @ 3h 54.50″
152 Michael Mørkøv Deceuninck – Quick – Step @ 3h 59.00″
153 Jens Debusschere Team Katusha Alpecin @ 4h 08.34″
154 Sebastian Langeveld Ef Education First @ 4h 13.50″
155 Yoann Offredo Wanty – Gobert Cycling Team @ 4h 13.53″