July 5, 2023
Tau to Laruns – 163 km
The Yellow Jersey changed hands by 47 seconds from Adam Yates to Aussie Jai Hindley at the top of the col of Laruns. He became the eighth Australian in the yellow jersey as he soloed to victory after making a smart move in numerous breakaways, all on his first Tour. Jonas Vingegaard bettered his rival Tadej Pogecar in the first stage of the Pyrenees.
Felix Gall who was in the last break with Hindley before the finish came in second. Said Hindley after the stage, ” This was not really the plan. We kinda improvised out there, it was a way to enjoy bike racing.” (Wish we could all do that.)
“The guys in the radio were just screaming about riding to the line,” he continued. “I couldn’t hear anything else. I wanted to put as much as time as possible on the GC, and win the stage… and now find myself in the yellow jersey… Thanks to my family, my girlfriend, my fans, everyone who supported me throughout my whole career… and I’m just so thankful to everyone.”
The Deets
Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) was the first rider to go clear at km 3 in today’s stage. He was brought back
at km 19, and many failed breakaway attempts followed. Cavagna and Mühlberger broke away at km 24. Thirty-six riders gathered at the front at km 28, among them Jai Hindley himself.
They included Tiesj Benoot, Christophe Laporte, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Felix Grossschartner, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Omar Fraile, Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Esteban Chaves, Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen, Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Emanuel Buchmann, Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Giulio Ciccone, Juan Pedro Lopez, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Clément Berthet, Felix Gall, Aurélien Paret Peintre (Ag2r-Citröen), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Matteo Jorgenson, Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Chris Hamilton (Dsm-firmenich), Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Juul Jensen (Jayco-AlUla), Anthony Delaplace (Arkéa-Samsic), Victor Campenaerts, Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Torstein Traeen (Uno-X), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies).
Pedersen, Van Aert and Campenaerts Pull Away Before Col du Soudet
At 45 km, four riders escaped from that group: Coquard, Pedersen, Van Aert and Campenaerts. Coquard
won the intermediate sprint at km 48 and sat up, leaving a trio at the front while UAE Team Emirates seized the reins of the peloton, two minutes behind.
At the beginning of the ascent to the first Hors Categorie climb of this year’s Tour, the col du Soudet, Pedersen let Van Aert and Campenaerts pull at the front while Lopez was pulling the chasing group at the service of Ciccone. The Belgian duo got reeled in 2.5 km before the summit.
Then Gall attacked one kilometer further. He reached the top of Soudet alone in the lead while Martinez out-sprinted Ciccone for the second place. Seventeen riders gathered together at the front when Neilands rode away solo with 53.5 km to go.
With 20 Km to Go, Hindley Was Alone
Alaphilippe and Van Aert caught up with Neilands at the Caterory 3, col d’Ichère with 38 km remaining. At the bottom of Marie-Blanque, the second major climb of the day, the deficit of the peloton was 3 minutes.
Van Aert, Alaphilippe and Neilands were reeled in with 24 km to go. Four km before the summit, Hindley attacked with Gall. Then Hindley went solo 20 km before the finish. Vingegaard also attacked 1 km before the summit and Pogacar went with him.
Hindley crested Marie-Blanque alone in the lead and kept going until he crossed the finish alone. Vingegaard recovered enough time to reach the line 34’’ after the Australian who has 47 seconds lead over the defending champion in the overall ranking while Pogacar is 1’40’’ adrift.
