Tour de France 2019: Julian Alaphilippe regains yellow jersey as Geraint Thomas survives late crash
The Tour returns to the hills for a tough, undulating stage
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Your support makes all the difference.Thomas De Gendt soloed to victory on stage eight of the Tour de France in Saint Etienne as Julian Alaphilippe regained the yellow jersey and Geraint Thomas survived a dramatic crash which snapped a team-mate's bike in half.
Lotto-Soudal's Thomas De Gendt was the last survivor of a four-man breakaway on the 230km stage from Macon, and had the power to hold off a late attack from Deceuninck-Quick Step's Alaphilippe and Thibaut Pinot of Groupama-FDJ.
Late in the stage the Team Ineos train was derailed in frightening fashion on a downhill bend, though Thomas was quickly back on his way and caught the peloton on the last of the day's seven categorised climbs. Re-live the live action:
Click on stage 8 to refresh the live tracker
Then again, it is the kind of stage which could offer someone like Julian Alaphilippe or Greg van Avermaet the platform to surge away from the main group in the final 10km, just as Alaphilippe did on stage 3 so impressively. He will be motivated to try and regain the yellow jersey from Giulpo Ciccone, if the opportunity arises.
There are bonus seconds available – eight, five and two – for the first three riders to reach the final summit of the day, and that could also tempt some of the lead riders towards the front late in the day. But realistically for GC contenders like Geraint Thomas, this is the kind of tough day to simply get through with as little fuss as possible.
Contenders
Peter Sagan – If he is in contention in the final few kilometres, he almost certainly wins this kind of stage. ****
Julian Alaphilippe – It is hard to know how much stage six took out of him as he fought and to keep the yellow jersey, but he will be extra motivated to regain it today if the chance comes his way. ***
Greg van Avermaet – Always dangerous on a stage like this one which requires strategy, strength and speed in the finish. **
Wout van Aert – He has impressed so far during this Tour but would love to grab a stage to really leave his mark on the race. *
Thomas De Gendt – He has looked lively in the breakaway over the past few days. *
7km to go: Pinot and Alaphilippe have worked together brilliantly here, it looks like a planned assault to me. Alaphilippe is going to grab the yellow jersey ahead of Bastille Day tomorrow, while Pinot is going to gain serious time over his GC rivals. They are only a few seconds behind De Gendt, who is about to blow....
5km to go: There's still plenty of riders in the yellow jersey group, including Geraint Thomas, who seem to be about 30 seconds behind Alaphilippe and Pinot.
↵The remnants of one of the Team Ineos bikes after that crash earlier:
3km to go: This is an unbelievable effort by De Gendt, who is stubbornly refusing to be caught by Alaphilippe and Pinot. He still leads as he takes on the final small climb before the fast run to the finish.
2km to go: This is a wild finish! Can De Gendt hold off Alaphilippe and Pinot to win the stage? Can the chasing pack get any nearer the leaders? They remain around 30 seconds back and the yellow jersey is almost definitely changing hands tonight.
1km to go: Under the flamme rouge De Gendt goes and he leads by 10 seconds! Alaphilippe and Pinot are flying but I don't think they are going to catch the Belgian. Brilliant racing.
What a thrilling stage. A brilliant ride by the Belgian and he clinches the victory by only a handful of seconds. Julian Alaphillipe came third behind Thibaut Pinot and Alaphilippe reclaims the yellow jersey, ahead of Bastille Day. Stunning performance by the French pair.
The top five:
1. Thomas De Gendt
2. Thibaut Pinot +6
3. Julian Alaphilippe +6
4. Michael Matthews +26
5. Peter Sagan +26
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