The tumultuous day in the Jura nearly resulted in a fantastic day for AG2R La Mondiale. The French team has its offices in Chambéry, the finish town of stage 9 of the 2017 Tour de France, and the team impressed during one of the hardest stages of the Tour.
AG2R La Mondile team had men in the long breakaway and outnumbered most other teams in the small peloton with GC riders. Jan Bakelants led the race on the final climb, the Mont du Chat, but faded back as the pure climbers surged forward, setting up team GC rider Romain Bardet to attack late in the stage. The young Frenchman came close to victory but "missed five more seconds" and the favourites reeled him back in shortly before the finish. The fourth place from Bardet in Chambéry doesn’t quite reflect the great ride from the French outfit.
The team impressed most when the race was at the halfway point. In the descent of the HC-category climb Col de la Biche, the AG2R team moved to the front of the peloton. The pace picked up, and at the same moment the AG2R riders in the breakaway moved forward too. It was a daring move, as rain started to make the roads slippery.
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The ‘coupe’ from AG2R caused a bit of a scare in the peloton. First, an AG2R-rider overhit a corner and spun a 180 in the gravel. His teammate in front probably didn’t see it and gestured to his other teammates to pick up the pace. Further back, it was carnage. In less than 10 minutes, two serious crashes occurred. First, there was a crash with Jesus Herrada (Movistar) and Astana teammates Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev and Alexey Lutsenko. A few moments later, Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) crashed, knocking Thomas out of the race.
After the stage, AG2R La Mondiale team manager Vincent Lavenu explained the tactical move to Cyclingnews.
“We knew that the Col de la Biche was tricky," he said. "The roads there aren’t good and it’s a technical descent. That’s why I told my riders to do the descent in front. Not to annoy the peloton but to stay ahead of trouble. Naturally, gaps were created and crashes happened. That was the tactic. In front, it allowed my riders to be in the right move and in the peloton, they would stay out of trouble. I think it turned out well for us.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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