Expelled from the high classification after the disastrous cobbled stage which ended more than 12 minutes late, Julian Alaphilippe, the French point man for the one-day classifications, took a quick revenge on unusual terrain for him, that of the first Alpine fraction. An Freccia Walloon, three second places in Liège, Lombardia and Sanremo, the young transalpine from the QuicK-Step Floor wanted to make the Froome of the Giro d'Italia in the Jaffereau stage, flying over the dirt road of the Plateau des Glières – the pass which for the French is our Piave where the German enemy was repulsed in the First World War - to then tame the Col de Romme and the Colombiére in solitary before diving into the dive towards Le Grand Bornand.
His first triumph in a Tour: the second Jon Izaguirre, a companion of Nibali, arrived at 1'34”, then Taramae third at 1'40”. After the football hangover for Les Bleus' triumph in Russia, this victory was needed for French cycling which for years has collected very little in the Tour: the final yellow jersey has been missing since 1985, the one worn at least one day since July 13 four years ago , even stage victories are increasingly rare.
Alaphilippe's is also the first for the French in this Tour. With him, another great unexpected protagonist on the hills from Annecy to Le Grand Bornad was Greg Van Avermaet. Seeing the yellow jersey attack is always exciting. Few thought that the Belgian, a protagonist of the great classics of the North but little accustomed to big climbs, could keep it.
He even strengthened it by going on the attack as he had announced immediately after the arrival in Roubaix, burnt in the sprint by John Degenkolb: a declaration that seemed more dictated than anything else to mask the disappointment of the lack of victory and the discouragement of all of Bmc for losing Porte and seeing Teejay Van Garderen drop from the high rankings.
Van Avermaet won't win the Tour but yesterday's stage magnified his strength as an athlete full of courage and determination. He couldn't keep up with Alaphilippe's pace but finishing fourth at 1'44 from the Frenchman he still gained over a minute and a half on the men who are pressing him in the standings, in particular on Geraint Thomas second now at 2'22” and Alejandro Valverde third at 3'10”. And the Belgian yellow jersey has also been awarded the red dorsal of the most combative, an acknowledgment that is not usual for those leading the standings.
Regulated in the sprint by Daniel Martin, the big names arrived all together at 3'23” from Alaphilippe, a selected group of about twenty riders with NIbali, Quintana, Froome, Dumoulin, Landa, Valverde, Thomas, Froome. However, important names were missing, in particular Rigoberto Uran, who, in pain from his fall on the cobblestones, broke away halfway up the Colombière, reaching the finish line almost 6 minutes behind Alaphilippe.
Majka, Pozzovivo, Zakarin and Mollema also gave up about fifty seconds to the best. Today is the second alpine stage with arrival at the height of 1885 meters at La Rosière. Sooner or later some big names will have to move, breaking a tactical plan that has so far been very favorable to Team Sky and its captain, Chris Froome, the great favorite of the Tour.
