Alaphilippe tops Thomas in the Tour’s stage 13 time trial: Daily News Digest
Welcome to your Daily News Digest. Here’s what’s happening today:
Julian Alaphilippe wins the stage 13 time trial to extend his overall lead at the Tour de France, Marianne Vos powers to an impressive victory at La Course, Wout van Aert abandons the Tour after a bad crash. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.
Story of the Day: Julian Alaphilippe wins the Tour’s stage 13 individual time trial
Race leader Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) did more than just conserve his yellow jersey on stage 13 of the Tour de France. The Frenchman bested Geraint Thomas (Ineos) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) to win the 27.2-kilometer individual time trial in Pau and extend his overall lead.
Thanks to his impressive ride, Alaphilippe will head into stage 14 still in yellow with a 1:26 advantage over Thomas.
Thomas’s teammate Egan Bernal (Ineos) dropped to fifth on the overall standings, with Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and Enric Mas (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) both putting in strong performances to move up to third and fourth, respectively.
More to come…
Moving Pictures
Wheelies are nothing new for Peter Sagan, but this? This is cool.
Never saw a TT bike wheelie before now. @petosagan #TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/zDGaqhzJiI
— DANIEL McMAHON (@cyclingreporter) July 19, 2019
Race Radio
Vos wins La Course
Marianne Vos (CCC-Liv) put on a thrilling show en route to victory at La Course by Le Tour de France. The Dutchwoman took the win in Pau ahead of Leah Kirchmann (Sunweb) and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig after catching and passing lone attacker Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott) inside the final kilometer.
Marianne Vos wins La Course. Photo: Nico Vereecken/PN//Cor Vos © 2019
“I came out of the Giro Rosa with good motivation, and La Course was a good inspiration to give it an extra go,” said Vos, who won four stages in Italy. “The break of Amanda Spratt was pretty dangerous, so my teammates had to do a lot of work to bring it back. When I saw it came down on the climb, I knew I had a chance. I went and just had the legs to continue.”
The 121-kilometer race covered five laps on the same circuit that hosted the individual time trial of the Tour’s 13th stage. The up-and-down profile made for a tough day on the bike.
After an initial break was reeled in on the penultimate lap, attacks split the peloton into smaller group, and then Spratt launched off the front. The 31-year-old Australian built a decent gap solo, but her advantage dipped on the final lap as those behind organized the chase.
With Spratt in sight on a short but very steep final climb inside the last kilometer, Vos powered clear, caught Spratt, and pressed on alone with no one able to match her surge. She nabbed her second career La Course title convincingly at the line, with Kirchmann taking the sprint for second.
Van Aert crashes out of the Tour de France
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) has pulled out of the Tour de France after crashing hard during Friday’s stage 13 time trial.
The 24-year-old Belgian, making his Tour debut this July, went down while going through a tricky corner not far from the finish line and hit a roadside barrier. After spending several minutes receiving medical attention on the ground, he was loaded onto an ambulance with a gash in his leg.
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.@WoutvanAert unfortunately has to abandon the race after his crash. He is conscious and has a flesh wound at his right upper leg.— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) July 19, 2019
Woods rides on at the Tour with two broken ribs
Michael Woods is rolling through southern France with two broken ribs, his EF Education First time said on Thursday.
The 32-year-old Canadian hit the deck in a crash on Wednesday’s stage 11, and finished stage 12 before a medical evaluation revealed a pair of broken ribs. Nonetheless, he is riding on into the Pyrenees this weekend.
“They’re clean breaks,” Woods said via a team press release. “No surgery needed, so I’m cleared to continue.”
Coming Up at the Tour
What should be one of the most important stages of the 2019 Tour de France awaits on Saturday.
Stage 14 will take the Tour peloton high into the Pyrenees. Riders will tackle the first-category Col du Soulor around the midway point of the day before climbing to the finish on the mighty Col du Tourmalet.
19 kilometers at a 7.4 percent average gradient, it’s a summit finish for the true GC contenders.
In case you missed it …
Wout van Aert out of Tour de France following TT barrier crash
Feature Image: Julian Alaphilippe en route to victory on stage 13 of the Tour de France. Photo: Dion Kerckhoffs/Cor Vos © 2019
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