The Alps and the passes are no more than a bad memory for part of the Tour de France peloton, which is pleased to see the return of the flat stages. That of the day of 184.9 km between Moûtiers and Bourg-en-Bresse should allow the teams of sprinters to regain control of the race. No major difficulties on the program for this day with the exception of two fourth category climbs (Côte de Chambéry-le-Haut, 1.6 km at 4.1%) and the Côte de Boissieu (2.4 km at 4.7%) which did not pose a problem for the riders.
The stage seemed promised to the sprinters, from kilometer zero, the traditional breakaway of the day was formed. At the front of the race, three strong Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X). Aware of the rolling qualities of the fugitives, the peloton never left the breakaway more than two minutes ahead. Without the slightest animation, it will be necessary to wait for the last difficulty of the day listed in the mountain classification to see the race come alive. 89km before the summit of the Côte de Boissieu, counter attackers Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergie), Quentin Pacher (Groupama FDJ), and Pascal Eenkhoorn (Lotto-Dstny) tried to come back to the breakaway in sight but without success. The Alpecin-Deceuninck team controlled to avoid any upheaval and the green jersey Jasper Philipsen came up to Pascal Eenkhorn to force him to cut his effort, he even tried a fishtail before exchanging a few words as if to say to him: “not even in a dream”.
30km later, the threats of the best sprinter in the world had no effect, Pascal Eenkhoorn set off again to try and catch up with the three leading men 65km from the finish. Thanks to his teammate Campenaerts, the Dutchman returned to the front and allowed the fugitives to regain a one-minute lead. At 34 km from the finish, the peloton was still a minute behind the breakaway, the pilot fish Mathieu van der Poel came down to 30-40th place in the peloton to ask Mads Pedersen’s Lidl Trek to come and lend a hand to get back. Paying pressure, as Tony Gallopin (Lidl Trek) and Nils Politt (Bora) came to ride at the head of the peloton to close the gap. A real race against time. Victor Campenaerts made his qualities speak, the Belgian literally sacrificed himself to allow the breakaway to play for victory. The Soudal Quick-Step formation made a mess in front to disrupt the pursuit. In a winding final, the breakaway fought over the sprint and the fastest Kasper Asgreen scored his first success on the Grande Boucle ahead of Eenkhorn and Abrahamsen. The Danish surprise winner of the Tour of Flanders in 2021 offered the first stage victory of this edition to his Soudal Quick-Step formation.
Overall, no change Vingegaard still has a ‘7.35” lead over Pogacar and ‘10.45” over Adam Yates who widened the gap with Carlos Rodriguez. The first Frenchman is David Gaudu 10th. Tomorrow, Friday, a 172.8km stage for the adventurers between Moirans-en-Montagne and Poligny.