Tour de France 2019 – Stage 19 [LAST 20 KM]

July 26, 2019

Tour de France 2019 – Stage 19 – Saint-Jean-De-Maurienne – Tignes : 126,5 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.

Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) was the big winner during a shortened stage 19 of the Tour de France. Although the jury ruled there would be no official stage winner, Bernal took the yellow jersey after the race was cancelled on the descent of the Col d’Iseran. Hail, ice and a reported mudslide on the final climb to Tignes made the final kilometres of the stage too dangerous to pass.

The Colombian had attacked midway up the Iseran, launching after teammate Geraint Thomas put yellow jersey Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) into major trouble on the 2770-metre mountain.

Bernal caught and passed the remains of the break in the final kilometres of the climb, gaining a minute on Thomas, Steven Krujswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), and two minutes on Alaphilippe.

Amid a shroud of confusion, general classification times were taken at the summit of the Iseran, meaning Bernal takes over the race lead.

The chaos marked the end of a frantic stage of racing, officially 126.5km long but cut to 88.5km due to the weather. Earlier in the day, Groupama-FDJ leader Thibaut Pinot abandoned after suffering through the opening 40km with what turned out to be a torn thigh muscle.

How it unfolded

The Tour de France’s high Alpine adventure continued with the 126.5km stage 19, with the Col d’Iseran (2770 metres) and Montée de Tignes (2089 metres) on the menu for the penultimate mountain stage of the race.

The two big climbs of the day were to come after the third-category Côte de Saint-André after 25km, the second-category Montée d’Aussois after 38km and the third-category Col de la Madeleine after 63.5km. The big tests of the day came with the HC-rated Iseran (12.9km at 7.5 per cent) and first-category Tignes (7.4km at 7 per cent), which would – of course – end up not being raced.

A number of big names joined in the attacking at the start of the stage, with Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) and Pello Bilbao (Astana) among the early attackers.

The hectic start to the stage saw more riders make it across, with Rigoberto Urán (EF Education First) and world champion Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) two men from the top ten to get away. Other notable names included king of the mountains challenger Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) and Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic).

Meanwhile, Team Ineos, Jumbo-Visma and Movistar placed helpers in the break with Dylan Van Baarle, Laurens De Plus and Andrey Amador going up the road. On such a short and pivotal stage, the break would never take more than two minutes on the peloton.

The first major drama of the day unfolded 30km into the stage when Groupama-FDJ leader Thibaut Pinot dropped back to the medical car for attention to his left leg. The Frenchman was bandaged up but struggled to put power through the pedals and lost contact with the peloton.

It soon became clear that the man in fifth overall had a serious injury, with teammates passing by offering him pats on the back. On the Montée d’Aussois, he hugged teammate Matthieu Ladagnous before rolling to a halt and climbing into the team car, his Tour over.

Up the road, Caruso picked up seven points over Aussois and Madeleine to edge closer to mountain classification leader Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), who had tried but failed to make the break.

On the Iseran, Van Baarle dropped back to help Wout Poels push the pace for Ineos at the front of the rapidly-thinning GC group. As stage 18 winner Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and race leader Julian Alaphilippe’s key helper Enric Mas dropped 7km from the top, the group lay just 30 seconds behind the break.

The action kicked off as Poels pulled off 6km from the top, triggering an attack by Thomas, which in turn forced the other GC contenders chase. Ineos teammate Bernal sat on the struggling Alaphilippe before launching himself a kilometre later.

The young Colombian quickly joined up with Nibali, Urán, Yates and Barguil at the head of the race, while Thomas had Jumbo-Visma duo De Plus and Kruijswijk, plus Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe). Alaphilippe, meanwhile, had Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) for company.

One by one, Bernal’s companions dropped away, with Yates the last man on his wheel as he rode into the virtual lead. At the top, he took the 8-second bonus alone, with the Thomas group a minute down and Alaphilippe two minutes in arrears.

As Bernal started the descent, helicopter images and Twitter reports from team cars showed heavy hailstorms and ice covering the road in Tignes before the final climb. Reports also showed a landslide blocking the road at one point, after a storm on the Iseran washed mud and rocks onto the road.

Race officials made the decision to halt the stage shortly afterwards, with Tour director Christian Prudhomme leaning out of the lead car to explain what was happening to Bernal and Yates. Confusion reigned further back, with Urán and Alaphilippe among the more animated riders as news filtered through.

But the decision was made, the roads impassable as the second-shortest stage of the race was shortened even further. At the end of it all, for the first time in almost two weeks, Alaphilippe was out of yellow.

Results :

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