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Valentin Paret-Peintre marked a significant moment as this year’s first French stage victor in the Tour de France by narrowly defeating Ireland’s Ben Healy during stage 16 on Tuesday, reaching the mythical Mont Ventoux summit, standing at an altitude of 1910m.
Behind the leading duo, Jonas Vingegaard, determined to challenge overall leader Tadej Pogacar, launched a relentless attack during the 15km climb, with Pogacar tracking him all the way and managing to extend his lead by two seconds.
Vingegaard, starting the stage behind by four minutes and 13 seconds, initiated his attack with 9km remaining on Mont Ventoux, known for its stark, barren landscape at higher altitudes.
“I tried to maintain my pace and avoid being caught off guard by a counter-attack,” Pogacar explained, as he has been under the weather with a cold this week.
“He kept attacking, but I just tried to stay on his wheel,” he added.
After crossing the finish line, Vingegaard suffered a fall due to a collision with a motorbike but fortunately remained unscathed, promptly remounting to commend Pogacar for their fierce competition.
“He seemed fine,” Pogacar mentioned later regarding Vingegaard’s condition.
Pogacar’s Team UAE director described Vingegaard as a commendable “warrior”.
“He’s shown both courage and endurance, and we anticipate his daily attacks to continue. He truly embodies warrior spirit,” commented Mauro Gianetti.
The enthralling battle for the day’s stage win, however, outshone the overall leader contention, with EF’s Healy and Soudal Quick-Step’s Paret-Peintre fiercely competing, making Paret-Peintre the first Frenchman to win on Mont Ventoux since Richard Virenque in 2002.
“He seemed overjoyed at the finish,” remarked Pogacar.
Mont Ventoux has long been held in awe by riders and spectators alike, and it has witnessed some of the greatest dramas and tragedies of the Tour.
In 1967, the British cyclist Tom Simpson died here after collapsing on a baking climb.
The legendary Eddy Merckx once required oxygen assistance at this summit, while Chris Froome famously ran part of the ascent awaiting mechanical support during his 2016 Tour de France victory bid.
Perfect tactic
Healy, who wore the yellow jersey for two days after winning the Bastille Day stage six, appeared to be heading for his second stage win as the two riders approached the finish of an epic tussle.
Paret-Peintre looked completely drained but, cheered on by the home crowd, he found a final surge of strength to overtake the Irishman with 20 metres remaining and held on to the line.
“I was near giving up, Healy was so strong but I said to myself, ‘Come on, it’s the Tour de France, Mont Ventoux,'” said Paret-Peintre.
“I knew that if I held on, the last section suited me better than him as it’s really steep. It turned out to be the perfect tactic.”
Healy’s consolation was to be awarded the day’s combativity prize while moving up one place to ninth in the overall standings.
Almost unnoticed further down the mountain, German breakout star Florian Lipowitz consolidated his third place, extending his lead on fourth-placed Scottish rider Oscar Onley by around 30 seconds.
With two more Alpine stages ahead and five stages remaining, Vingegaard and his Visma team put in every effort to weaken Team UAE’s leader Pogacar here, holding hope that they’ve managed to tire the resilient champion.
But the 26-year-old resisted all they threw at him, despite being isolated from his teammates early in the climb.
Stage 17 should be one for the sprinters as Tim Merlier hopes to add to his two stage wins and current green jersey Jonathan Milan also targets a second win at the 700m straight run to the finish line at Valence.
The weather however could rewrite the script with 50kph winds forecast along the 170km run.
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