Hugo Hall climbed to the podium in the Tour de France for the first time in his career, Tuesday, on the occasion of the tenth stage of the Grand Boucles.
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Having started to break up so early in the race with Belgian Tosh van der Sande, the rider from Astana-Premier Tech was leading the race for 152km before the peloton finally caught up with him.
For his efforts, Holly was awarded the Most Combative Runner Award, awarded for each stage.
“In the Tour de France, you never know what could happen and you have to try your luck,” Holly said, very happy with his work day. It was great to ride up front and give a vision to the team. Our separation required a lot of energy as there were only two of us and the relays came quickly. I saw a runner go solo and decided to follow, but I thought we’d have more company. “
“It’s a first for me and it’s fun living the platform protocol,” Holly continues. It’s fun to learn about the effort to get the race moving. It is a huge confession. I took another step in the Tour de France and hopefully the next step is to win a stage. “
Cavendish’s third victory
Hall and van der Sande made a priority over five minutes at one point, but the gap quickly narrowed. Kiebecker has done a few kilometers on his own since he overtook the Belgian pluton just before that.
“The peloton left us very little time because Deceuninck-Quick Step wanted the race to end in a sprint for Mark Cavendish’s favour. The gap on the climb quickly narrowed because opponents wanted to hurt him, but he won the stage again. I had no illusions about breaking up, Especially since there were only two of us. We were pulled up about thirty kilometers before the finish line.”
Cavendish triumphed for the third time since the start of the Grand Buckle, bringing the 33rd stage victory of his Tour de France and he needs just one to join legendary Belgian Eddie Merckx, who holds the record with 34 victories from 1969 to 1975.
Nothing like Friday
If he enjoys riding up front, Holly enjoyed his performance the most on Friday when he finished 12th in a strong breakup that included several big names.
“It’s a great performance today [mardi]But I’m more proud of stage seven because I smelled the right attack and had a chance to win. In this breakup that included the yellow jersey holder, I had the most fun. “
I spent a lot of energy
Hall has spent a lot of energy planning the bus ride very wisely on Wednesday.
“I’ll stay warm in the peloton,” he said. The goal is to replenish your energy within a good range and avoid the pitfalls. It’s going to be a tough stage with Ventoux going up on two occasions. “
Hall finished the 190.7 km race in 123rd place, 4:38 behind the winner. He is 54th in the general classification.
As for Guillaume Boivin, from Israel Start Up Nation, he ranked 69th and found himself 92nd overall.