(Belleville-En-Beaujolais) Ion Izagirre emerged victorious from a difficult stage in uneven terrain which was marked by numerous attacks on Thursday at the Tour de France.
The cyclist from the Cofidis team signed his second career stage victory, on the occasion of the 12th chapter of the Tour de France. He crossed the finish line after three hours, 51 minutes and 42 seconds (3:51:42).
The 169 km course crossed the legendary Beaujolais vineyards, before taking the cyclists to two passes in the second part of the stage. The first two hours were spent at high speed, and a few dozen participants were dropped during the first 25 kilometers.
Izagirre broke away from a breakaway of experienced cyclists as they approached the final pass — a brutal 5.3km climb to Col de la Croix Rosier.
Crouched in an aerodynamic position, the Basque cyclist took enormous risks during the descent, before exploiting his great talent in the individual time trial to surprise his rivals during a 31 km solo breakaway.
” It’s incredible. Since the start of the Tour I have tried to escape, without success. But today, yes, said Izagirre. I was confident in my power. I knew that I had taken enough lead so that I was not in the crosshairs of my opponents and that it was going to play to my advantage. »
This is the second victory for a cyclist from the Basque Country in this Grande Boucle, after Pello Bilbao got his hands on the 10th.
“It’s been a very Basque Tour de France so far,” Izagirre said. It started at home for us and we already have two wins. »
Mathieu Burgaudeau finished second in the stage, ahead of Matteo Jorgenson.
Hugo Houle, of Sainte-Perpétue, was the top Canadian cyclist by virtue of his 56th place finish, 11 minutes and 25 seconds behind Izagirre. His compatriots Michael Woods of Ottawa and Guillaume Boivin of Montreal followed at 66th and 132nd.
Izagirre signed his previous stage victory at the Grande Boucle in 2016, after triumphing in the Alpine village of Morzine. He also scored stage victories in the Tour of Italy and the Tour of Spain.
The overall standings remained virtually the same. Jonas Vingegaard held on to his cushion of 17 seconds ahead of two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar after his main pursuers opted to remain in the main peloton for most of the day.
Woods is now 30th in the overall standings, ahead of Houle (77th) and Boivin (132nd).
The fight for the yellow jersey should resume on Friday, when climbing the Grand Colombier, a monstrous pass located in the Jura which will crown the 13th stage.
Jakobsen was second to last overall, more than two hours and 45 minutes behind Vingegaard.