The finish at Le Bettex above the Alpine city of Saint-Gervais evokes the Maillot Jaune Ronan Pensec conquered in 1990 from Canada’s Steve Bauer and the stage win of Romain Bardet in 2016. The latter had disobeyed to his sport directors who were happy with the fifth place overall. He rode away with his lieutenant Mikaël Chérel in the downhill of Domancy to cap it off on the same course used for stage 15 this year, throughout the steep and narrow côte des Amerands. He moved to second overall, his best result in Paris. Sadly, he won’t even have a chance to try and repeat his exploit since he crashed out yesterday. However, it remains an opportunity for attackers to go for a mountain stage win. It didn’t work out for them yesterday as Thibaut Pinot and Co were the victims of the Pogacar-Vingegaard duel. The Slovenian and the Dane won’t let each other in peace but Le Bettex isn’t the most suitable climb for a difference to be created between them.
