Tour de France: Laporte unlocks the French counter in the 19th stage

French cycling waited for the 19th stage to celebrate its first success: Christophe Laporte anticipated the sprint to win Friday in Cahors, and sign a new victory for the Jumbo team in the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard.

Two days before the finish in Paris, Laporte seized the first opportunity offered to him by the dominating team of the Tour, victorious for the fifth time in a stage.

“The team trusted me today,” explained Laporte, highlighting the role of Belgian Wout van Aert, a true road captain. “Wout said to me: + It’s for you today +. The last time he said that to me was at Paris-Nice”, in March, when the Varois won the first stage ahead of two of his teammates (van Aert, Roglic).

Until now, Laporte had not been able to do better than second in the Tour when he wore the colors of the Cofidis team, which he left in the offseason to join Jumbo. He had notably come close to victory behind Arnaud Démare in the Pau stage in 2018.

– The ghosts of 1926 and 1999 dismissed –

His success in Cahors, 28 years after that of Jacky Durand during the only previous stage finish in the Lot prefecture, saved the French balance sheet. Media pressure had mounted over the days on this subject, to chase away the ghost of the two “fanny” years for the stages, the 1926 and 1999 editions.

In the winding Cahors final, described as “stressful” by Vingegaard, Laporte produced a first effort before the red flame to come back to the trio at the head of the race in the last thirty kilometers (Wright, Gougeard, Stuyven). He took his start to 600 meters, in the rising false flat, to precede the Belgian Jasper Philipsen, the Italian Alberto Dainese and the French champion Florian Sénéchal by one second.

“He did a lot for me, in the spring races and in the Tour, commented van Aert. I didn’t feel very well today, I told him it was his day. First he had to keep Jonas in position until the last three kilometres.”

– The trauma of the Plank –

A break in the peloton allowed the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar to nibble five seconds and return to 3 min 21 sec from Vingegaard, before the 40.7 kilometer time trial between Lacapelle-Marival and Rocamadour. Without fundamentally changing the situation.

For the final victory, Pogacar recognized on Thursday, after the last Pyrenean stage, that the possibility of overthrowing Vingegaard was most uncertain. In 2020, he had dethroned the Slovenian Primoz Roglic, pushed back almost two minutes, in the time trial ending with the Vosges ascent of the Planche des Belles Filles (36.2 km). But he showed up at the start with a handicap limited to 57 seconds.

Pogacar, recovered from his fall the day before, tested Vingegaard’s vigilance about thirty kilometers from the finish: “I followed an attack from Schachmann, I found myself in front but I knew it wouldn’t work. It was for fun.”

In the Rocamadour time trial, in addition to the stage success which represents a priori the main issue, the Colombian Nairo Quintana will have to defend his fifth place in the general classification. He is followed at eight seconds by the South African Louis Meintjes and at 35 seconds by the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov, in position to integrate the top 5 of the Tour for his first participation.

“I went to recognize him in April, I remember that the first ten kilometers are very technical, announced Vingegaard. I will do everything I can, that should be enough.” At least to avoid the repetition of the trauma of the Planche des Belles Filles.

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