Peter Sagan pipped Alexander Kristoff in a photo finish to win the 16th stage of the Tour de France on Monday.
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It was Sagan’s third stage win in this Tour and the seventh of his career.
Norwegian Sondre Holst Enger leading the pack at the “Nydeggstalden” hill in the old town of Bern, during the 16th stage of the Tour de France.
Briton’s Chris Froome remains 1:47 ahead of second place Bauke Mollema of the Netherlands in the overall standings, with the defending champion still 2:45 ahead of his countryman Adam Yates.
Asked what has stood out so far from this Tour from the others Sky have won with Froome, Braislford said: “We [have] raced more aggressively”.
Per Cycling Weekly’s Gregor Brown, Cavendish previously denied there were plans for him to leave the Tour during the final rest day.
“I was not waiting for the results, I thought I was second until they came and told me I had won”, Sagan said. Luckily there were no serious injuries but whilst Mollema and Porte got back on their bikes, Froome had a mechanical issue and was left stranded without the support of a team auto to replace his bike.
“Last year he made up a lot of time in the final week, and I expect he’s gonna to be one of the main guys putting us under pressure these next few days”, said Froome, who is much less anxious by his compatriot, the 23-year-old Yates. He chooses when he wants to go in a breakaway, how he wants to ride the finish.
There are five stages left in the race this year, four of which are in the Alps.
Froome himself has described his team as the “strongest Sky have ever brought to the Tour”.
The Tour ends Sunday with mostly a ceremonial finish in Paris on the Champs Elysees. At the back of everybody’s mind is that the next four days are so hard.
“But I think it s also a great day for a breakaway because everybody s exhausted and it s before the rest day and nobody will really want to chase”. The terror attacks the previous evening in Nice in the south of France that left 84 people dead was very much in the forefront of people’s minds.
“There were times when I wanted to attack, I was the only one to attack on Ventoux, and we know what happened there”, added the Movistar leader.
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Former world champion Rui Costa then launched a solo attack but Sagan preferred to wait until the Portuguese rider was caught, and take his chances in the bunch sprint.
