Hugo Houle (Israel–Premier Tech) sniffed the right shot to be part of the day’s breakaway made up of 20 riders, but only one member resisted the work of the UAE Emirates team which prepared the end of the stage for his leader Tadej Pogacar on Friday at the 13th stage of the Tour de France.
On a 138 kilometer course between Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne and the Col du Colombier, the Quebecer was picked up by the group of favorites just under 6 kilometers from the summit, a ruthless ascent punctuated by many switchbacks where the spectators were agitated throughout the 17.4 kilometers at an average gradient of 7.1%.
“A great breakaway with 20 strong riders and I knew it was a good group and there might be something to try. Once they left, the UAE kept us in their sights with 1 minute 25 and I understood that they wanted to try to do the stage with Tadej [Pogacar] and that it would be complicated. If they had left us 10 minutes, I could have played a place of honor for the stage, because today [Friday], Kwiatkowski [INEOS Grenadiers] was superior to everyone, “said Hugo Houle, adding that he was satisfied with the cooperation of everyone in his breakaway group.
This Kwiatkowski is Michal Kwiatkowski, who was already in orbit to claim the second Tour stage victory of his career after “the most difficult effort of [his] life” as he explained afterwards. the race. The Pole, 2014 world champion, was a cut above all to win this time solo rather than arm in arm as he did in the 18th stage of the 2020 edition with his teammate Richard Carapaz.
The leading group comprising yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogacar was just under 4 minutes behind at the foot of the final ascent.
“I fought until the group of leaders caught me and then I finished the stage a little softer,” added Houle, 32nd of the day (5 min 32 s). “I didn’t tear my heart out to be 15th or 20th. You had to be in front with riders like that, because you never know. If the UEA weren’t in control, it completely changed the dynamics of the race and there was definitely a podium up for grabs. I am happy with my day and to have been a player in the race. »
In front, Kwiatkowski quickly widened the gap on his pursuers while the fight for the general classification was in full swing behind.
The formation of Pogacar, Marc Soler in the lead, took advantage of a numerical advantage to do a huge job of undermining, a question of wobbling the yellow jersey which could only count on one teammate, Sepp Kuss.
Former yellow jersey Adam Yates (UAE Emirates) launched the first direct 2 kilometers from the line and Pogacar followed up with a second, a violent acceleration to shake the Dane who took off the wheel of the Slovenian thirty seconds later. late. Pogacar scored a double blow by beating Vingegaard by 4 seconds on the finish line, in addition to grabbing 4 more as a bonus for his third place. At the end of the day on Friday, Vingegaard’s lead over Pogacar in the general standings fell from 17 to 9 seconds.
Houle’s teammate Guillaume Boivin (23:24) finished in 104th place.
The Israel-Premier Tech will not stop playing breakaways, promised Hugo Houle, winner of the 16th stage of the Tour last year.
“As soon as it starts, we have someone [in it], so we are always in a positive spiral. Everyone [in the team] participates and plays the game. Sometimes runners conserve their energy and do not play the game, you find yourself with just two runners to chase the shots and you are quickly in the red. This is our strength. Not all teams are so lucky to have riders who go over the mountains like us. »
The rest on Saturday, on the mountainous route of 152 kilometers between Annemasse and the resort of Morzine les Portes du Soleil.
