COLMAR (France): Slovakia’s Peter Sagan kept enough strength in reserve in the hills of Alsace to win a reduced bunch sprint for his 12th overall Tour de France stage win on Wednesday.
France’s Julian Alaphilippe held onto the leader’s yellow jersey and even had a tilt at the stage win with a downhill charge after the final climb.
Alaphilippe, who was cheered throughout by French fans again Wednesday, will start leader for Thursday’s first real mountain test that concludes with a tough summit finish in the Vosges.
“My legs are killing me,” said Alaphilippe, who took the overall lead on Monday with a gun-slinging offensive from 15 kilometres.
“Tomorrow is going to be a huge test, for me and everyone,” said the 27-year-old former soldier.
Sagan’s win will be popular with armchair fans as the charismatic former triple world champion, and six-time green sprint jersey winner, had had two near misses so far.
“I try every day, and then one day you get it,” said the burly Sagan.
“I suffered a bit in the climbs. But I had to get into the sprint, I was patient. I’m 47 points ahead in the race for the green jersey now.”
Sagan turned on the power from 150 metres out to beat pre-race favourites including Jumbo Visma’s Wout van Aert, a breakout star of the race who came second while Italy’s Matteo Trentin came third. – AFP
