After the second rest day the Tour headed into the Pyrenees. The riders left in Carcassonne for the longest stage. After 237.5 kilometers they arrived in Bagnères-de-Luchon. Michael Rogers rode solo towards the victory. Tony Gallopin, who was part of the long breakaway, became tenth.
Breakaway makes it to the end
It took a while before the break of the day was formed. Eventually some groups joined together after the Côte de Pamiers, the second climb of the day. The front group consisted of 21 riders, one of them was Tony Gallopin. The Frenchman had the company of among other Kwiatkowski, Serpa and Voeckler. The peloton let them go and the escapees had 12’30” advantage with 40 kilometers to go. They would battle for the stage win.
The last climb was the Port de Balès, with top at 21.5 kilometers from the finish. Rogers, Serpa and Voeckler reached the summit together. In the descent Gautier and Kiryienka could return. In the final kilometers Rogers created a gap and rode solo to the win. Voeckler got second, Kiryienka third. 2’11” later Gallopin finished as tenth. Jurgen Van den Broeck passed the finish with Bauke Mollema and Fränk Schleck. He’s thirteenth in GC now.
I found my rhythm
Jurgen Van den Broeck: “It was our intention to have someone in the breakaway, because we thought it would have a chance. For myself it was especially waiting to see if I would have a better feeling and better legs. I’m satisfied that we know the cause why it didn’t go as we had hoped until now. In the first part of the Port de Balès it was tough when Movistar raised the tempo, but then I could find a good rhythm and caught guys like Van Garderen and I could join Mollema and Schleck. The GC isn’t a goal in itself, but I still hope to make something of it. It’s positive that there’s evolution and I will see what’s possible day by day.”
