Back when he was a second-category racer in Brittany, recounted Warren Barguil (Team Sunweb) after his Tour de France stage 13 victory, he used to imitate Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) and his 'smoking gun' salute whenever he took a win of his own.
On Friday, Barguil had no such time for such 'Pistolero' celebrations as he blasted across the finish line in Foix, but his victory had an extra resonance, the 26-year-old recognised, because amongst those he defeated in the group of the three closest chasers was none other than Contador himself.
"It means a lot to me to be able to beat him," said the Team Sunweb rider, France's first winner on Bastille Day since 2005. "He's a hero of mine, and that makes it very special."
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Barguil's first stage win in the Tour did not just boost local patriotic fervour on France's national holiday, it's also the country's fourth stage win in the Tour this year, and it's second in the Pyrenees after Romain Bardet's win on Thursday.
Barguil attacked early on stage 13 alongside French veteran Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie), and then made another move towards the summit of the first climb of the day, the Col de Latrape. Caught and then dropped by Contador and Mikel Landa (Team Sky) at the foot of the next climb, the Col d'Agnes, the young French climber stubbornly tried to regain contact by latching onto a long counter attack with Nairo Quintana (Movistar). The duo finally bridged across to Landa and Contador close to the summit of the Mur de Peguere and the fast downhill to Foix.
Barguil's strong riding on the three first category climbs of the stage has seen him increase his overall lead in the mountains classification to 94 points, 59 ahead of his closest pursuer - as it happens, Landa. A stage victory, though, was what Barguil was chasing the hardest, particularly after his agonisingly narrow defeat by Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) at Chambery. And his brilliantly timed acceleration after Contador's, powering round the outside of the final U-turn in Foix to hit the finish line first, proved more than sufficient to achieve that.
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