Tony Gallopin has won the eleventh stage of the Tour de France in an impressive way. In the streets of Oyonnax he could stay ahead of a chase group. After he conquered the yellow jersey on Sunday and could wear it for one day, this is another dream come true for the 26-year-old Frenchman. It’s his first victory for the team and the second one of Lotto Belisol this Tour.
Besançon – Oyonnax
After a well-deserved rest day the Tour caravan continued from Besançon today. For a ride of 187.5 kilometers towards Oyonnax, that welcomed the Tour for the first time. From the moment the race had officially started there were several attempts. Anthony Delaplace, Martin Elmiger and Cyril Lemoine created a maximal lead of 6’45”. In the second half of the stage lay four official climbs. On the Côte de Rogna, the first one, Elmiger was the last to survive of the early escapees. Bakelants, Gautier, Herrada and Roche joined him on the next climb. The peloton followed at only half a minute. Roche could stay ahead the longest, but with 16.5 kilometers to go it was over for him as well.
Gallopin with panache
After the last climb of the day that was classified, there came an uphill section. That’s where Tony Gallopin attacked a first time. He stayed ahead in the descent. Four kilometers from the end he got the company of Kwiatkowski, Rogers and Sagan. Gallopin tried it again on his own. He could hold off a chase group in which John Degenkolb sprinted to place two and Matteo Trentin two the third place.
Because world champion Rui Costa lost time, Jurgen Van den Broeck moves up one place In GC. He’s now tenth at 4’18” of Nibali. Gallopin stays fifth.
Different feeling
Tony Gallopin: “Wearing the yellow jersey or winning a Tour stage gives you a different feeling. Before I conquered the yellow jersey I had that plan in mind for a couple of days already and I was thinking of it the entire stage. I had done a recon of today’s stage. I knew what was coming: that there was an uphill section of over one and a half kilometer after the last official climb, where it was steep and narrow. And that there was a descent towards Oyonnax afterwards. I didn’t know the last kilometers too well. Because I felt good and the break was controlled by Cannondale and Orica GreenEdge I decided to go to the team car to study the last five kilometers.”
Crazy
“A few hundred meters before the top of that last climb I took off and went down full gas. The gap was never big. When the three others joined me I stayed in the wheel the next two kilometers, then I attacked. I knew the others would hesitate. Sagan because he would lose power for the sprint and the two others wouldn’t be able to jump away themselves afterwards. I wasn’t thinking anymore at the end. I wanted to reach the finish as soon as possible. It’s a crazy feeling.”
On the right track
“Up till now I performed well in the stages I had marked. I got fifth in Sheffield and third in Nancy. On Sunday I took the yellow jersey. We’re on the right track. The team already had a victory with André Greipel. We did a fantastic job up till now collectively. Jurgen van den Broeck is tenth now and the goal the next ten stages is to get him as high as possible in GC. The nice thing about the team is that we get results with differen
