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Australian cyclist Michael Storer has claimed the prestigious combativity award for being the most aggressive rider after his persistent attacks animated an exciting 15th stage of the Tour de France.
However, his esteemed Tudor Pro teammate Julian Alaphilippe might want to forget his premature celebration of a stage victory in Carcassonne, only to later find out it was actually a third-place finish.
The 169km journey from Muret had already been conquered by UAE Team Emirates’ seasoned rider Tim Wellens, who was sporting the Belgian champion’s jersey. Fellow Belgian Victor Campenaerts (Visma Lease-A-Bike) finished second, resulting in a fitting one-two finish just before Belgium’s National Day and the Monday rest day.
Both leading cyclists had been part of the breakaway with the lively Storer, who was eventually overtaken as they sprinted for third, a position Alaphilippe won as if he had clinched the stage victory.
Unfortunately, the former two-time world champion did not have a functioning radio due to a crash early on, during which he also dislocated his shoulder, leaving him unaware that the two Belgians were ahead.
“I tried to put in the best sprint possible and thought about the stage win. Like an idiot, I raised my hands, but there were a few guys ahead of me,” the 33-year-old later told French television while also revealing he had put his dislocated shoulder back himself.
“I remembered what they did to me in the hospital previously and managed to pop it back in,” Alaphilippe said.
“The day could have gone better — but I could also have had to go home, so it’s okay.”
Despite the mix-up, Raphael Meyer, CEO of the ambitious Swiss-based Tudor team, acknowledged they would have gladly accepted third place if it had been offered beforehand, and commended Storer’s “incredible” effort, after he finished among the pack of sprinters behind Alaphilippe in 22nd place.
Further back, there was no change at the top of the general classification, with the main favourites finishing some six minutes after Wellens following a few exhausting days in the high mountains.
Tadej Pogacar maintains a lead of four minutes and 13 seconds over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease-A-Bike), while Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) is third, nearly eight minutes behind the leader’s yellow jersey.
Ben O’Connor remains the top Australian in the standings in 12th place, 25:44 behind Pogacar.
The day’s breakaway had formed after the crash had split the peloton. With Vingegaard and Lipowitz delayed, UAE and Pogacar tried to slow the peloton to enable them to catch up — mirroring a similar sporting response by his rivals when he crashed a few days ago.
The breakaway was gradually whittled down to four with Storer attempting to go solo at that point only to be reeled back in.
With a little over 40km to go, the leading group was eight-strong, at which point Wellens, who had been sitting on the others’ wheels, launched his break which quickly became decisive as the rest dithered over how to respond.
“It was a very special victory,” said Wellens, after his maiden Tour win. “Everybody knows the Tour de France, everybody wants to ride the Tour de France but not many get to win at the Tour de France, so it’s very beautiful.”
