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Australian star Michael Storer has bagged the much coveted daily combativity prize for being the most aggressive rider after his constant attacks enlivened a thrilling afternoon on the 15th stage of the Tour de France.
But the Perth rider’s illustrious Tudor Pro teammate Julian Alaphilippe will want to forget the embarrassment of celebrating a stage win in the ancient city of Carcassonne which he later discovered was actually only a third-place finish.
At the end of the 169km route from Muret, the race had actually already been won by UAE Team Emirates’ veteran Tim Wellens, wearing the Belgian champion’s jersey, with compatriot Victor Campenaerts (Visma Lease-A-Bike) second in a fitting one-two on the eve of Monday’s rest day, which is Belgium’s National Day.
The pair had both been in the breakaway with the buzzing Storer but the Australian was eventually swallowed up amid the sprint for third, won by Alaphilippe, who celebrated as though he had won the stage.
Alas, the former double world champion had been without a working radio due to an early crash, during which he had also dislocated his shoulder, so hadn’t realised the two Belgians were ahead.
“I tried to put in the best sprint possible and thought about the stage win. Like an idiot, I raised my hands, but there were a few guys ahead of me,” the 33-year-old later told French television while also revealing he had put his dislocated shoulder back himself.
“I remembered what they did to me in the hospital previously and managed to pop it back in,” Alaphilippe said.
“The day could have gone better — but I could also have had to go home, so it’s okay.”
While Raphael Meyer, CEO of the ambitious Swiss-based Tudor team, pointed out they would have been very happy with third if offered that before the stage, he also paid tribute to Storer’s “amazing” ride after the 28-year-old had come home among the pack of sprinters behind Alaphilippe in 22nd place.
Further back, there was no change at the top of the general classification, with the main favourites finishing some six minutes after Wellens following a few exhausting days in the high mountains.
Tadej Pogacar remains four minutes 13 seconds clear of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease-A-Bike) with Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) third, just shy of eight minutes off yellow.
Ben O’Connor remains the top Australian in the standings in 12th place, 25:44 behind Pogacar.
The day’s breakaway had formed after the crash had split the peloton. With Vingegaard and Lipowitz delayed, UAE and Pogacar tried to slow the peloton to enable them to catch up — mirroring a similar sporting response by his rivals when he crashed a few days ago.
The breakaway was gradually whittled down to four with Storer attempting to go solo at that point only to be reeled back in.
With a little over 40km to go, the leading group was eight-strong, at which point Wellens, who had been sitting on the others’ wheels, launched his break which quickly became decisive as the rest dithered over how to respond.
“It was a very special victory,” said Wellens, after his maiden Tour win. “Everybody knows the Tour de France, everybody wants to ride the Tour de France but not many get to win at the Tour de France, so it’s very beautiful.”
