There is no rest day to go across France from the Alps to Catalonia. This block of stages will see the first real mountain climbs, starting with with 2 half-Andorran stages. But the block actually opens on Wednesday with a flat Team Time Trial.
Standings after stage 4
General
- D. Gaudu 🇫🇷 FDJ
- J. Vingegaard 🇩🇰 Visma – s.t.
- G. Ciccone 🇮🇹 Lidl-Trek – 8″
- E. Bernal 🇨🇴 Ineos – 14″
- T. Pidcock and 19 other riders – 16″
Points
- M. Pedersen 🇩🇰 Lidl-trek – 78 pts
- E. Vernon 🇬🇧 IPT – 76 pts
- J. Philipsen 🇧🇪 Alpecin – 75 pts
- G. Ciccone 🇮🇹 Lidl-Trek – 67 pts
- J. Vingegaard 🇩🇰 Visma – 65 pts
- D. Gaudu 🇫🇷 FDJ – 62 pts
Mountain
- J. Nicolau 🇪🇸 Caja Rural – 11 pts
- S. Quinn 🇺🇸 EF – 9 pts
- A. Verre 🇮🇹 Arkéa – 8 pts
- L. Vervaeke 🇧🇪 Soudal-QS – 8 pts
- J. Vingegaard 🇩🇰 Visma – 5 pts
Teams
- Visma 🇳🇱
- UAE, Astana and Soudal – 2″
(Except for Visma, I wouldn’t have given those team names if I had been asked; it’s a bit of a surprise.)
Stage 7: Friday 29, 11:55–12:17 → 17:10–17h50
Leaving the cyclists’ tax haven to pursue our journey westwards with another mountain stage.
Despite the lack of real fight these last two days, Gaudu (🇫🇷 FDJ) and Tiberi (🇮🇹 Barhein) are out of GC race, for good, as they only crossed the line 15 minutes after the winner today.
The GC rider and climber Gaudu is apparently now a puncher and only a puncher. As soon as there are longer climbs, no matter at which level the race is raced, he disappears more or less significantly.
Not a great day for Astana boys either. Fortunato🇮🇹 lost a good part of what he had won through the breakaway yesterday.
Today’s Intermediate Sprint was likely the most difficult (so far, and among the most difficult ones overall) to reach for a non-climber. Seeing this, Pedersen (🇩🇰 Lidl-Trek) decided it would be the day he would pick to go on a breakaway. Luckily, he succeeded to reach the I.S.