The Tour de France is taking advantage of its first day of rest this Monday in La Rochelle.
The break will be marked, as part of the health protocol, by PCR tests for 650 people within the teams.
We take a look back at the first highlights of the first 9 stages of the 107th edition of the Grande Boucle.
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Roglic-Pogacar, Slovenia dominates the Tour
The team: Jumbo-Visma
We only see them.
The young and black.
To slow down the race on the summer ice on a road made dangerous in Nice, to ensure the tempo in the difficulties, to stifle the desire for attacks, to win on all terrains with already 3 stage victories: Roglic at Orcières Merlette (4th stage), Wout Van Aert at Privas (5th stage) and Lavaur (7th), ie a third of the stages contested.
Solid and united finally to clear the ground and place Primoz Roglic at the top of the general classification.
The number: 4
The number of yellow jerseys since the departure from Nice.
After Alexander Kristoff, Julian Alaphilippe and Adam Yates, Primoz Roglic is the new yellow jersey of the Tour de France.
The Slovenian had been circling around for several days.
After four days in yellow, Adam Yates was dispossessed of his place as leader at Laruns, the end of the 9th stage.
The Briton will once again be able to embark on the hunt for stage victories.
The French
They stood out with 2 stage victories signed Julian Alaphilippe in Nice (2nd stage) and Nans Peters in Loudenvielle (8th stage), with also 4 days in yellow for Alaphilippe and two riders still clinging to the Top 5: Guillaume Martin (3rd at 28 '' from Primoz Roglic and Romain Bardet 4th at 30 '').
On the other hand, eagerly awaited, Thibaut Pinot not having recovered from his fall during the 1st stage saw his hopes of appearing well in the general classification collapse.
The Franc-Comtois is in 24th place 28'32 '' from the yellow jersey.
Host: Pogacar
Tadej Pogacar plays the role played last year by Julian Alaphilippe.
Trapped in the edge of the 7th stage, the Slovenian lost 1'21 ''.
Since then, he has struggled to make up for lost time.
He discovered the Tour, already had a stage victory at Laruns (9th stage) and was in 7th place in the general classification, 44 '' behind his compatriot Primoz Roglic.
The sentence: "I saw that he was going down like a goat"
Signed Nans Peters (AG2R-La Mondiale), winner of the 8th stage at Loudenvielle.
Aiming at the limits of the Russian Ilnur Zakarin (CCC) who threatened his breakaway but he kept at a distance "with the eye, I had no atria".
And the French (26 years old) to recount his immense pleasure with freshness: “It was a dream, it's crazy… When he returned to 9”?
I knew he was stronger than me in the moguls, I didn't give up.
I played with my strengths, I saw that he was going down like a goat, I went ahead, do the descent, don't look back.
At 2 terminals, I told myself that it was done. "
Peters had only been integrated into the AG2R-La Mondiale team after the French championships… In extremis for a successful first on the Tour.
The revelation: Hirschi
Marc Hirschi, member of the young generation (22 years old), the Swiss (Sunweb) is a real talent.
In Nice (2nd stage), he took the wheel of Julian Alaphilippe and only bowed with a breath.
During the 9th stage, lively for 80 km, it was picked up at the last minute 1.5 km from the finish, before joining forces to fight in the sprint for this stage victory that it so deserved.
He lost, finishing 3rd behind the Slovenian duo which for the moment hovers on this Pogacar-Roglic Tour.
Read also
General classification of the Tour de France 2020