While this year’s Tour has been unpredictable, it is possible possible to sensibly predict that there won’t be a lot of serious battling among the main GC contenders in this stage.
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It was Cummings’ fourth major victory this year after wins at Tirreno-Adriatico, the Tour of the Basque Country and the Criterium du Dauphine.
Cummings, a team-mate of Mark Cavendish who has already won three stages this year, said: “I’m ecstatic for the team – it’s fantastic to race with Mark who is a such a legend and it was a brilliant day. I wasn’t confident in that group with [climbers] Nibali and Navarro”, Cummings said. But it’s been good having the guys in the team around, they’ve kept the morale super high. I felt if I can get in front with a smaller number of riders, I’d have more chances of winning.
Belgium’s Greg van Avermaet, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, climbs Aspin pass during the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 162.5 kilometers (100.7 miles) with start in L’Isle-Jourdain and finish in Lac de Payolle, France, Friday, July 8, 2016.
The collapsed arch also slowed the progress of the peloton containing the favorites, including reigning champion Froome and Quintana.
Friday’s win came after Cummings initially got himself into a very high-class 29-man breakaway that included some real heavyweights in race leader Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing), former victor Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) and Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep).
Also: 21 Thomas at 6min 37sec, 106 Cummings at 40min 41sec, 139 Cavendish at 47mins 7sec, 161 Rowe at 50min 41sec.
‘When the ball’s rolling success breeds success, ‘ he continued. But you want personal excellence. “I will fight for it every minute”, he said.
“I had bad legs, it’s as simple as that”, said Pinot, whose struggles in the Category 1 ascent were in stark contrast to his scintillating form a year earlier on his way to a prestigious win on the slopes of the Alpe d’Huez. Adam Yates, the racer who was crushed, so to speak, by the arch required four stitches on his chin.
As far as dramatic video footage is concerned, the collapse could not have been timed better; the deflation occurring at the flawless moment to cause as much damage to Yates’s hopes of the white young rider’s jersey as possible.
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When the break crept up to nearly six minutes – giving Van Avermaet an 11-minute overall lead on the road – the peloton reacted decisively.
