fbpx

Tour De France Week 2 stage winners: Suffering is part of the sport

Stage 8: Dreux – Amiens Metropole (Flat, 181km)

 

 

Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) made it two wins in two days in Amiens, out-sprinting André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Fernando Gaviria (Quick Step Floors) – although the latter two would be relegated by officials after the stage.

 

Stage 9: Arras Citadelle – Roubaix (Hilly, 156.5km)

 

John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) won stage 9 in Roubaix and was hailed the ‘King of the Cobbles’. He outsprinted yellow jersey Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Yves Lampaert (Quick Step Floors) after a tough day over the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.
 
 
cyclingnews.com

 

dusty and lined up with spectators Photo credit: cyclingnews.com
 

Stage 10: Annecy – Le Grand-Borland (Mountain 158.5km)

 

Julian Alaphilippe of Quick Step Floors claimed his first stage win in style in Le Grand Bornand, parlaying a 30km-long solo attack over two mountains into his career’s biggest victory.

 

photo credit: cyclingnews.com

 

Alaphilippe collapsed at the finish line, a mix of pain, exhaustion and tears of joy shifting across his face.

“There’s a lot of emotion, because winning at the Tour is not easy,” Alaphilippe said.

 

Julian Alaphilippe (Quick Step Floors) Photo credit: cyclingnews.com

 

Stage 11: Albertville – La Rosière Espace San Bernardo (Mountain, 108.5km) 

 

We witnessed 2 sprinters; Marcel Kittel from Katusha–Alpecin and Mark Cavendish from Team Dimension Data disqualified from the race after failing to meet the cut-off time in stage 11’s mountain stage. 

Mark Cavendish only narrowly avoided elimination on stage 10 of the race as he crossed the finish line just 28 seconds inside the time limit, but no mercy was spared in the following stage. He finished an hour behind the winner of the stage, but at least he didn’t give up and completed the race. 

 

Mark Cavendish crosses, outside the time limit, the finish line of the eleventh stage of the 105th edition of the Tour de France cycling race between Albertville and La Rosiere, French Alps, on July 18, 2018. Photo credit: Philippe Lopez/ getty images

 

Stage 12: Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs – Alpe d’hues (Mountain, 175.5km)

 

photo credit: @ashleygruber instagram

 

Dutch Corner had barriers and security this year. It kept the fans slightly at bay, but no amount of barriers and police presence could stop them from turning corner 7 into planet orange for a minute. 

 

 

Geraint Thomas from Team Sky won both stages 11 and 12 consecutively, retaining the yellow jersey. The Welshman extended his overall lead over his Sky teammate Chris Froome to 1 min 39 secs. 

 

Stage 13: Bourg d’Oisans – Valence (Flat, 169.5km)

 
photo credit: bicycling.com

 

Peter Sagan sprinted to a third stage win on this flat course. Sagan is one of the few real sprinters left in the race, after surviving an Alpine stage trilogy that killed the hopes of rivals Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, Andre Greipel, and Dylan Groenewegen. 

With many sprinters already out of the tour, it was no doubt a relatively easy win for him. 

 

Who is leading the Tour? 

RANK RIDER RIDER NO. TEAM TIMES GAP    
1 Geraint Thomas  8 Team Sky 53H 10′ 38”    
2 Chris Froome 1 Team Sky 53H 12′ 17” + 00H 01′ 39”  
3 Tom Domoulin 32 Team Sunweb 53H 12′ 28” + 00H 01′ 50”    
4 Primož Roglic 166 Team Lombo NL- Jumbo  53H 13′ 24” + 00H 02′ 46”    
5 Romain Bardet 21 AG2R La Mondiale  53H 13′ 45” + 00H 03′ 07”    
6 Mikel Landa Meana  75 Movistar Team 53H 13′ 51” + 00H 03′ 13”    
7 Steven Kruijswijk 161 Team Lotto NL- Jumbo 53H 14′ 21” + 00H 03′ 43”    
8 Nairo Quintana 71 Movistar Team 53H 14′ 51” + 00H 04′ 13”    
9 Daniel Martin 91 UAE Team Emirates 53H 15′ 49” + 00H 05′ 11”    
10 Jakob Fuglsang 121 Astana Pro Team 53H 16′ 23” + 00H 05′ 45”    
 
Photo credit: letour.fr

 

 

Stages to look forward in the final week:

 

14 Hilly Saturday, July 21, 2018 Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux / Mende 188 km  
15 Hilly Sunday, July 22, 2018 Millau / Carcassonne 181.5 km  
Rest Day Monday, July 23, 2018 Carcassonne    
16 Mountain Tuesday, July 24, 2018 Carcassonne / Bagnères-de-Luchon 218 km  
17 Mountain Wednesday, July 25, 2018 Bagnères-de-Luchon / Saint-Lary-Soulan Col du Portet 65 km  
18 Flat Thursday, July 26, 2018 Trie-sur-Baïse / Pau 171 km  
19 Mountain Friday, July 27, 2018 Lourdes / Laruns 200.5 km  
20 Individual time-trial Saturday, July 28, 2018 Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle / Espelette 31 km  
21 Flat Sunday, July 29, 2018 Houilles / Paris Champs-Élysées 116 km

 

Latest posts by SportsIn Cycling (see all)
(Visited 90 times, 1 visits today)