Tour de France 2019 – Stage 08 [LAST 25 KM]

July 13, 2019

Tour de France 2019 – Stage 8 – Macon – Saint-Etienne : 200 km

When the route of the 2019 Tour de France was unveiled at the Palais des Congrès in Paris back in October, it was billed as ‘the highest’ for a number of years, with the 2000-metre altitude barrier to be broken on no fewer than seven occasions. Now, after the loss of Chris Froome and Tom Dumoulin to crashes and injury, and with question marks over the form of 2018 champion Geraint Thomas, it is being talked of as ‘the most open’ in recent memory. That may well, of course, prove to be folly, but the absence of the four-time winner and, to a lesser extent, last year’s Giro d’Italia and Tour de France runner-up, would seem to open doors – not just to higher spots on the general classification, but also to a less predictable style of racing. Such has been the holy grail for race director Christian Prudhomme, who has made no secret of his desire to break the stranglehold of Team Sky, about to embark on their first Tour as Team Ineos. The abundantly-resourced British squad have won six of the past seven Tours with a style that Prudhomme has referred to as ‘catenaccio’ – an Italian footballing term meaning a rigid and stifling defensive structure.

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) claimed a victory that will rank at the very top of his list of breakaway triumphs on stage 8 of the Tour de France, as a breathless finale in the Massif Central saw Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) reclaim the yellow jersey and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) gain time on his rivals for the overall title.

De Gendt, a rare example of a pure breakaway specialist, was part of a four-man escape on a 200km parcours that totalled 3,800 metres of elevation gain across seven categorised climbs.

The Belgian dropped the last of his companions, Alessandro De Marchi (CCC Team), on the final climb of the Côte de la Jaillère and somehow held off Alaphilippe and Pinot on the 12km run-in to Saint-Etienne.

Alaphilippe, who lost the yellow jersey to Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) on La Planches des Belles Filles two days ago, needed to find six seconds, and sprang ferociously clear of the reduced bunch on the short-but-steep Jaillère. By cresting the designated ‘Bonus Point’ in second place, he grabbed five bonus seconds. Pinot produced a huge acceleration to follow the attack – collecting two bonus seconds of his own – and the two Frenchman combined on the run-in to finish 20 seconds ahead of the rest.

Pinot took second place on the stage – perhaps in a gentleman’s agreement with the faster Alaphilippe – to collect a further six bonus seconds. His offensive was a risk, but in the end it was handsomely rewarded with a haul of 28 seconds over his rivals, taking him to third overall and the best-placed of the pre-race favourites.

Pinot has 19 seconds in hand over fifth-placed Geraint Thomas, who produced a remarkable ride to come back from a Team Ineos pile-up on the run down to the final climb. Having hit the deck when Michael Woods (EF) slipped out on a right-hand bend, the 2018 champion managed to haul himself back on the climb but was still half-way down the group when Alaphilippe lit the fuse. He could count himself lucky it was not worse, both in terms of time loss and injury, but he’ll feel the bullet he fired to scramble back could have been used to match Pinot, who he now sees as his main rival.

Alaphilippe might have won the stage, were it not for De Gendt’s powers of resistance, but there will be no sense of disappointment as he accomplished the mission to recover the maillot jaune, which he’ll wear on Bastille Day.

Ciccone put on a brave face but his disappointment was apparent. The 24-year-old Italian found himself in a slightly disorganised chasing pack with the GC contenders and not many of their teammates, and was forced to do turns himself to try and limit the damage. He slips to second overall at 23 seconds, and if there’s any consolation it’s that he’ll now wear the white jersey as best young rider.

Another development in the overall picture was that Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) was dropped on the final climb and lost four minutes, definitively settling his debate over whether to go for GC or stage wins.

De Gendt does it again

Alaphilippe and Pinot will dominate the headlines in France when tomorrow’s newspapers come out on Bastille Day, but De Gendt deserves just as much praise. He has now won 15 races in his career, all from breakaways. This was his fourth Grand Tour stage and his second at the Tour after winning on Mont Ventoux three years ago.

More riders were expected to join the cause on what seemed like fertile terrain, and when the four of them – Niki Terpstra (Total Direct Energie) and Ben King (Dimension Data) were the other two – were kept on a relatively short leash of four to five minutes, it looked like it could be a futile effort.

Yet De Gendt and De Marchi upped the pace when the terrain was at its most rugged in the final 70km. They dropped Terpstra and King on the Col de la Croix de Part and pressed on over the subsequent Cote d’Aveize, the final two of the five category-2 climbs. There was another uncategorised climb followed by a downhill run to the final climb and, aided by a tailwind, they managed to hold off a bunch that was being driven by two committed parties in EF Education First and Astana.

Having crested the Aveize (52km to go) with a lead of 3:35, they reached the foot of the final climb (14km to go) with a lead of one minute and a fighting chance.

De Gendt immediately dropped De Marchi on the eight per cent gradients and led solo over the top, but saw his lead slashed to 30 seconds when Alaphilippe and Pinot sprang from the bunch. The two Frenchman were all-in and far fresher, but somehow he kept them at bay.

The run to Saint-Etienne was net downhill but contained several flat and even uphill sections, so there was plenty of work to do. The time gap oscillated wildly, but he took a lead of 12 seconds into the home straight, and with it a moment to celebrate as he crossed the line. He covered his mouth with his hands in disbelief, before punching the air.

“I had a really good feeling all day so I believed in it all day, but we only got five minutes and it went down really quick to three and a half,” said De Gendt.

“We didn’t go really easy but we didn’t push that hard on the climb where the feed zone was. Just after that we went full because we heard those who were pulling before started to drop, so that was a moment to try and get a bigger gap again. Then we had four minutes and I really started to believe in it again. But then we almost crashed in a few corners because we were taking some risks. From 70 to go I started believing in a possible victory. But still it hurts – it hurt so much.”

How it unfolded

Stage 8 offered the riders seven climbs with nearly 4,000 meters of elevation over the 200km from Macon to Saint-Etienne. The climbs were all category 2 or 3 and the stage strongly resembled a Belgian Classic. The day’s break group turned out to be a surprisingly small one. To no one’s surprise, the first to go right from the drop of the flag was Thomas De Gendt (Soudal-Lotto). He was joined by Niki Terpstra (Total-Direct Energie) and Ben King (Dimension Data).

Mads Wurtz Schmidt (Katusha) jumped to get into the group. After dangling between the field and the leaders for a while, he nearly joined the leaders but then unexpectedly dropped back. The next to give it a shot, more successfully, was CCC’s Alessandro De Marchi. The peloton declared itself satisfied with this group and let the quartet go.

The leaders rolled through the early intermediate sprint, but the peloton got hectic. Bahrain-Merida and Deceuninck-QuickStep did their all to set up Sonny Colbrelli and Elia Viviani, respectively. The latter was the first of the peloton at the line, followed by Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Sunweb’s Michael Matthews.

After 45km, the gap had grown to five minutes. Bora-Hansgrohe’s Marcus Burghardt and Sunweb’s Chad Haga were sent to the head of the field, where they could be seen for many kilometers. A routine quickly developed on the many climbs: De Gendt took the points ahead of King. In the peloton, the sprinters routinely dropped on the ascents, splits in the field appeared on the descents, and everyone came back together on the flats.

The day’s longest climb, the 8.5km category-3 Côte d’Affoux, came almost midway through, by which point the gap had dropped to almost exactly three minutes. It grew back to 3:30 as the lead group hit the top of the Croix de Part, but by then there were just two out front. Terpstra was the first to drop back on the climb, which had a gradient of up to 7.9 per cent, and King soon fell away, too

With the group again nearing the four minute mark, Sunweb, Ineos and Astana really pushed the tempo on the climb. On the descent, in a frightening moment, De Marchi overcooked a bend. He was lucky enough not to crash but had to stop and then scurry to catch up again with De Gendt. By the time they were reunited, they had nearly a minute on Terpstra and King and four minutes on the field, with less than 60km remaining.

On the ascent of the penultimate climb, the Côte d’Aveize, Astana upped the speed yet again, with the result that even more riders were dropped, including stage 6 winner Dylan Teuns, with Peter Sagan struggling to hang on. The peloton was only about 60-70 riders strong and with 47km left the gap was down again to 3:30.

EF Education First moved up to help Astana and the combined efforts brought the gap down on the rolling terrain. Sagan was rocking and rolling on the climbs but just about hung in, while Wout Van Aert had to shut a gap for Jumbo-Visma leader Steven Kruijswijk. The high pace put on by EF and Astana served to drop a number of helpers of their rivals for GC and the gap continued to drop, sitting at just over a minute ahead of the final climb.

With 15km to go, disaster nearly struck Team Ineos as Geraint Thomas was involved in a crash with teammates Michal Kwiatkowski and Gianni Moscon when EF Education First’s Michael Woods slipped out on a right-hand bend going downhill. The defending champion made it back to the bunch after a few kilometres thanks to the work of Wout Poels, shutting the final gaps himself on the climb but not soon enough to respond to Alaphilippe’s attack.

Up ahead, De Marchi was instantly distanced on the final climb. De Gendt powered on but lost 20 seconds in the blink of an eye when Alaphilippe and Pinot set off. With 12km to go from the top, a big effort was needed, and the Frenchmen combined seamlessly. They also needed hesitation behind, and they got it. Bauke Mollema drove things on for Ciccone, and Sunweb still believed in the stage win, while Astana had Alexey Lutsenko. It wasn’t a bad chase, but it wasn’t a strong one either. There were moments when someone finished their turn and no one immediately picked it up. Alaphilippe and Pinot never got more than 20 seconds, and it came down to 10 seconds at one point, but the moments of hesitation swung it. Michael Matthews (Sunweb) and Sagan led the heavily reduced bunch across the line 20 seconds behind Alaphilippe and Pinot.

So much was going on behind that the cameras almost forgot about De Gendt, who somehow had enough in the tank to finish the job.

Results :
1 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 5:00:17
2 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:06
3 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
4 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:26
5 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
7 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
8 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
9 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos
10 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos
11 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
12 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
13 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
14 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First
15 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
16 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
17 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
18 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
19 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
20 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
21 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
22 Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep
23 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
24 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
25 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Dimension Data
26 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
27 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
28 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
29 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
30 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma
31 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
32 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates
33 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
34 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert
35 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates
36 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:00:32
37 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:00:56
38 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb 0:01:46
39 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:02:38
40 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie 0:03:27
41 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:42
42 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:04:11
43 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Ineos 0:04:25
44 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First
45 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
46 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:42
47 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:05:01
48 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:37
49 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
50 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:05:45
51 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
52 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
53 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
54 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
55 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First
56 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
57 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:08:02
58 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:08:12
59 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Ineos
60 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
61 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
62 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
63 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Ineos
64 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
65 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:09:46
66 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:13:46
67 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
68 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott
69 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First 0:14:22
70 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First
71 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
72 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data 0:16:57
73 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
74 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team
75 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:17:13
76 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
77 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
78 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
79 Amael Moinard (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
80 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
81 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team
82 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
83 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
84 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:19:43
85 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits
86 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
87 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
88 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
89 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
90 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
91 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
92 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
93 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
94 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
95 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates
96 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott
97 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
98 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie
99 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
100 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
101 Florian Vachon (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
102 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
103 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Dimension Data
104 Romain Sicard (Fra) Total Direct Energie
105 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
106 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
107 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
108 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team
109 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
110 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
111 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
112 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team
113 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:23:47
114 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie
115 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
116 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert
117 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
118 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits
119 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Total Direct Energie
120 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team
121 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis Solutions Credits
122 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
123 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
124 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
125 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos
126 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
127 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
128 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First
129 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
130 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:23:55
131 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida 0:26:32
132 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
133 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team
134 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
135 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
136 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
137 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
138 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
139 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
140 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
141 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
142 André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa Samsic
143 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
144 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First
145 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
146 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
147 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
148 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
149 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits
150 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
151 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert
152 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
153 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
154 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
155 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
156 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
157 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
158 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
159 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
160 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep
161 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
162 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data
163 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
164 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
165 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
166 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
167 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
168 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
169 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
170 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
171 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Gobert 0:29:44
172 Lars Bak (Den) Dimension Data
DNS Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First
DNF Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits

General Classification after Stage 8 :
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 34:17:59
2 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:23
3 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:53
4 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:10
5 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos 0:01:12
6 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos 0:01:16
7 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:27
8 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:01:38
9 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:42
10 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:45
11 Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:46
12 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:47
13 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:02:02
14 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:02:04
15 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:06
16 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:09
17 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:15
18 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:19
19 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:45
20 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:46
21 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:02:54
22 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:18
23 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:20
24 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:03:26
25 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Dimension Data 0:03:28
26 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:48
27 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert 0:03:50
28 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:06:18
29 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:10:12
30 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:07
31 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie 0:13:27
32 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:13:38
33 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team 0:14:25
34 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:15:23
35 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First 0:15:32
36 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:18:11
37 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:19:08
38 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:19:25
39 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:20:00
40 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:20:07
41 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:20:32
42 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:23:06
43 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb 0:23:14
44 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:23:30
45 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Ineos 0:23:46
46 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:24:00
47 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:24:03
48 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:24:25
49 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:25:10
50 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:26:21
51 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:26:40
52 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida 0:27:01
53 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:28:32
54 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:29:07
55 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:29:59
56 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team 0:30:11
57 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:30:50
58 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:31:32
59 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:31:36
60 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:31:43
61 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Ineos 0:32:41
62 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Ineos 0:32:44
63 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First 0:32:52
64 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:33:46
65 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:34:11
66 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:34:20
67 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:34:59
68 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:36:20
69 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:36:28
70 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:36:44
71 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott 0:37:33
72 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:37:52
73 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Dimension Data 0:38:30
74 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:39:24
75 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:41:09
76 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:43:25
77 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:44:10
78 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team 0:45:13
79 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First 0:46:22
80 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:47:43
81 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:49:19
82 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:49:32
83 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:50:09
84 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:50:13
85 Romain Sicard (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:52:17
86 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:52:23
87 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:52:24
88 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:52:46
89 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:54:35
90 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert 0:54:59
91 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:55:06
92 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:55:14
93 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:55:15
94 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 0:55:35
95 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 0:56:12
96 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:56:22
97 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data 0:56:35
98 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:56:43
99 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:56:51
100 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:56:55
101 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team 0:57:48
102 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:59:05
103 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:59:26
104 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:01:09
105 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 1:01:46
106 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 1:01:48
107 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 1:02:36
108 Amael Moinard (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 1:03:30
109 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Total Direct Energie 1:03:56
110 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb 1:04:24
111 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:04:26
112 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:05:45
113 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team 1:05:57
114 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 1:07:46
115 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie 1:08:01
116 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:08:30
117 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates 1:09:46
118 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert 1:09:51
119 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott 1:09:59
120 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 1:10:04
121 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 1:10:54
122 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 1:11:46
123 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 1:11:59
124 Florian Vachon (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 1:12:07
125 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:12:15
126 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 1:12:18
127 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 1:13:05
128 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 1:13:10
129 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 1:13:34
130 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:14:59
131 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team 1:15:32
132 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 1:16:06
133 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 1:16:15
134 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 1:16:49
135 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:17:18
136 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 1:17:30
137 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:17:34
138 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 1:18:12
139 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 1:18:13
140 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 1:18:18
141 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:18:38
142 Lars Bak (Den) Dimension Data 1:18:46
143 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie 1:18:56
144 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:18:58
145 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:19:10
146 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin 1:19:25
147 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:19:56
148 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie 1:20:06
149 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team 1:20:18
150 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First 1:20:45
151 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 1:21:04
152 André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa Samsic 1:21:13
153 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie 1:21:14
154 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 1:21:21
155 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data 1:21:51
156 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 1:21:56
157 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 1:21:58
158 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 1:22:35
159 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 1:23:21
160 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb 1:23:56
161 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma 1:24:30
162 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 1:25:05
163 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:25:20
164 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First 1:25:47
165 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:26:05
166 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data 1:26:08
167 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 1:26:38
168 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:26:50
169 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 1:28:20
170 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 1:28:31
171 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 1:28:38
172 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Gobert 1:38:42