On the final climb, Thymen Arensman won the 19th stage of the Tour de France from Albertville to La Plagne. The match leader Tadej Pogacar, who has maintained an overall lead from Jonas Vingegaard, has not doubled for any meaningful attack.
The victory of Ineos Grenade Riders has been asking questions about the staff involved in the anti-doping investigation related to their glorious time as Sky team, and he won his second victory in the race.
But it was a disappointing phase for Oscar Onley of Scotland, who broke off the podium position in the closing ceremony after almost everything he could throw at him on the tour, attacking Pogacar at third place and Vingegaard at second place.
With only 22 seconds between them, Oni and Lipowitz weren't separated for most of the stage, but Lipowitz tried to follow when Pogaca launched his first attack at a distance of 7 km. However, the German then spun the table on the table, winning another 40 seconds on the young Scotsman to further finish a possible third in his debut.
In front of them, Arensman was the champion of Superbagnères on the Pyrenean stage, hoping to replicate the success with another summit’s title victory, but his lead started rolling as he entered the last two kilometers.
However, the naughty Dutch rider won only two seconds as Vingegaard, who said he would risk everything he could win the game and eventually attack Pogacar at the last mile to lead the way.
“I’m absolutely destroyed,” said Aaronsman, who drained behind the stage. “It's been incredible to have won a stage on the tour. But now, it feels like I'm dreaming to win the general classification team with the most powerful riders in the world.”
Arensman said his lack of interest in overall points has fueled his attack decision. “I started climbing with the leading group and I was: 'I don't have GC [interest]maybe I should try, maybe they will look at each other. '”
In his series of accelerations, he said: “I didn't refuse for the sake of the answer… it was Tadej and Jonas. Everyone knew they were the strongest in the world, they were almost aliens. I couldn't believe I beat them today.”
The stage was scheduled to be 130 kilometers on four climbs, and after a large pile of infected cows caused two climbs, nearly 40 kilometers cut off nearly 40 kilometers, which are the Côte d'Héry-Sur-ugine and col des saisies.
Lipowitz's Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team apparently intends to test Onley's determination, and the tactic quarantines the 22-year-old Onley when Primoz Roglic attacks Cormet de Roselend's decline.
When the valley road leads to La Plagne, the UAE team (Amirates Xrg) Xrg seizes Chase and Roglic's advantage disappears until he is captured and fully dispatched at the foot of the final climb.
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During the long climb, the quartets of Pogacar, Vingegaard, Onley and Lipowitz stabilized their pace, but until the last kilometre, meaningful attacks appeared, allowing Arensman to successfully complete his solitude mission.
Tadej Pogacar, yellow, chases Thyme Arensman in Stage 19. Photo: Benoît Tessier/Reuters
“I've been counting kilometres until the end,” Pogaca said. “If someone attacks I can still speed up, that's why I've gone at a certain speed. But congratulations to Aaronsman. He's very good.”
But Pogacar, who seemed even more tired during the day, admitted that he was “apparently tired”. “It’s not a relaxing tour, people are attacking me from day one to end, so it’s about staying focused.”
Now the convoy begins its journey to Paris, a long journey from Nantua, through Jura to Pontarlier in Doubs. Of course, anything is possible, especially in the final stage of Paris on Sunday, which replicated the Paris 2024 road race, which included three laps of Cote Bute Montmatt.
When asked if this stage would win another chance to win, the tournament leader sounded disdainful. “I wish I was just coming to Paris with the yellow jersey,” Pogacar said. “I don’t feel like this is a very busy parccour when I think about racing on Sunday, and Sunday is Sunday.”