This article was first published on Cyclingnews.
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) claimed his first Tour de France stage victory with a tenacious uphill sprint in Rodez, relegating Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) to second place once again. Sagan could be consoled with more points toward the green jersey on the stage. Jan Bakelants (AG2R La Mondiale) was a distant third, and there were no changes to the top of the general classification.
Three breakaway riders, Wilco Kelderman (LottoNl-Jumbo), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) and Cyril Guatier (Europcar) made it a nail-biter of a finish, holding on until the very last meters only to be denied as Van Avermaet led Sagan past. After losing out in the intermediate sprint to Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal), Sagan extended his lead in the points classification to 24 points with his fourth second-place stage finish of this Tour de France.
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“It was really close. I went really early because in Le Havre I waited too long I think," Van Avermaet said. "I tried to go almost from the bottom. It was really long and the last 100 metres kept going forever. I saw that there was somebody in my wheel so I just kept on sprinting and hoped that they wouldn’t come over.
“I have a very good team and to win the stage is very good. We’ve been doing well so far in this Tour and I think that this victory is a reflection of that performance.â€
For Sagan, it was the 15th time he has finished second in a Tour de France stage, and he was understandably frustrated to have fallen short again. "It’s not bad luck," he said. "It was mistake because I was waiting for too long. I was pushing out of the saddle and then I came to his Van Avermaet’s wheel and I sat down. That was my mistake because I needed to carry on pushing so that I could win. But it was my mistake and I’m pissed now."
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