Ion Izagirre (Movistar) took his first Tour de France stage win with plenty of panache, coolly dropping off the Col de Joux Plane into Morzine while the slippery, rain-soaked descent caused problems for other world-class descenders like third-placed Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Colombian revelation Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling), the stage runner-up.
The 27-year-old Spaniard dropped the pair with seeming ease after they topped the final climb together, carving the corners on the descent with a precision Nibali has used in the past to leave so many others behind.
"It was an amazing day," Izagirre said of his first Tour stage win. "A victory in the Tour de France, in the Alps, is something every cyclist could dream of."
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Izagirre was part of a large group that congealed off the front on the second climb of the day, the Col de la Colombiere.
By the time the race was descending off Ramaz, the day’s penultimate climb before the Col de Joux Plane, Pantano and Julian Alaphillipe (Etixx-QuickStep) had linked up and had a minute advantage over the chase.
Nibali jumped from the chase group and caught the duo with 15.5km to go and soon went on the attack, momentarily distancing the pair before they reeled him back.
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