In his usual style, Bauke Mollema offered Quillan his second stage victory in the Tour de France on Saturday by giving company to a solid group of breakaways with 40 km to go to win solo.
The Dutchman, already victorious in the same way at Puy-en-Velay in 2017, stubbornly resisted the hunt led in particular by the Frenchman Guillaume Martin, who goes back to second place in the general classification, and by the Canadian Michael Woods, present on the five climbs of the day and new polka dot jersey for this edition.
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The general classification of the Tour de France
Firmly established in the peloton, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar kept his yellow leader's jersey on the eve of the first Pyrenean stage, Sunday between Céret and Andorra la Vella.
But he only precedes the leader of the Cofidis team by 4'04 ”overall.
“
It was still very hard today, it did not unplug.
I saw an opportunity in the bump in the middle of the race and I took the risk of leading the breakaway.
It's the Tour de France and so far I've often run it defensively, this year I want to take risks…
”, explained Guillaume Martin, the best Frenchman in the 2020 Tour (11th).
The group from which Bauke Mollema emerged had formed in the steepest ascent of the day, the Montsegur coast, rising above the martyr village of the Cathars. There were solid supporting roles there who left the general classification but decided to save their Tour from a one-day success, such as Wout Poels, Esteban Chaves, Omar Fraile, Sergio Higuita or Pierre Rolland.
But in this commando of backpackers, the Dutchman, ranked three times in the Top 10 of the Tour, was the most opportunistic and the most resilient to escape out of time and hold out in the last reliefs, and in particular the coast of Saint -Louis, located 17 km from the finish line.
At 34, in the city that was French rugby champion nearly a century ago, Vincenzo Nibali's teammate in the Trek-Segafredo team has transformed the test and added a line to a record also filled with '' a Tour of Lombardy in 2019 and a stage of the Vuelta in 2013.
Martin in search of the podium in the attack of the Pyrenees
Behind, Guillaume Martin was among the most active, and for good reason. Ninth overall at the start of Carcassonne, 9'29 ”behind Tadej Pogacar, the Frenchman had a unique chance to perform a superb close-quarters. Eleventh on the stage, 1'28 ”behind the winner of the day, the leader of the Cofidis formation certainly failed to offer his team this stage victory which has eluded him for thirteen years, but has replaced himself among the protagonists of this Tour. And that's a good omen before the Pyrenees.
At the start, he announced his intentions at Le Figaro: "
Today the gaps are a little established overall, it would not be honest to say that I will not try to hang on to this top 10. But the gaps are such that I think I can have an exit voucher
, ”he said. Well seen. Now is the time for recovery… “
In the end, I had a little problem with dehydration. I hope that I will recover well for tomorrow,
”concluded Guillaume Martin.