The World Champion Takes His Third Stage

Nobody talks about the rainbow jersey’s bad luck anymore. Today Peter Sagan gave nobody the sprinters’ penultimate chance.

From the start, a Quick-Step pair broke away from the stage: the legendary Tony Martin and the young, ambitious Julian Alaphilippe. The team’s tactics were clear: the rest of the lineup was completely freed from chasing duties, and the team would arrive at the finale in top shape to deliver Marcel Kittel to the right position at the right time.

 

 

The finish was set in Bern, near the home of the legendary Fabian Cancellara, which gave him extra motivation, though the nature of the finale practically ruled out a home success for Fabian. A cobbled section and a fairly steep climb there favored more versatile sprinters.

The sprint turned out beautiful. The main competition came from Peter Sagan and Alexander Kristoff. Alexander seemed to have won, but in the last centimeters he made a mistake: he didn’t throw his bike at the line, which Peter did brilliantly, creating a fine example for children’s academies of how a tight sprint is finished. It’s Peter’s third win at this year’s Tour, and he also has a big lead in the sprinters’ classification, which he will very likely give up to no one!

 

 

Tomorrow is a rest day, after which the Tour’s decisive third week begins! Great battles lie ahead!

 

 

Featured image: Yuzuru SUNADA/www.yuzurusunada.com

Inside post thumbnail image: Yuzuru SUNADA/www.yuzurusunada.com

 

Special thanks to the Japanese photographer Yuzuru SUNADA for permission to use his works in our publications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Translated from Georgian with the assistance of Claude (Anthropic), reviewed by the Velorbola editors.