Thymen Arensman climbed to solo victory at La Plagne on stage 19 of the Tour de France to take his second win of the race.
The 25-year-old Dutch climber punched clear of a group containing both Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard on the lower slopes of the summit finish and managed to open a gap of half a minute to the chasing pack.
His advantage collapsed to just a handful of seconds in the final kilometre, but he held on to seal the victory for Ineos Grenadiers with just two stages left to go until the finale on Sunday. It was his second win of the race after he won in the Pyrenees at Superbagnères on stage 14.
Arensman held his hands to his face in disbelief after crossing the finish line. He then collapsed to the floor and leant against the hoardings to regain his composure after a huge effort on the final mountain of the Tour.
"I’m absolutely destroyed, I cannot believe it," he said. "To win one stage of the Tour from a break is unbelievable, but to win now from the GC group against the strongest riders in the world feels like I’m dreaming. I can’t believe what I’ve just done."
A late burst from Jonas Vingegaard meant that he took second place ahead of Pogačar, although the Dane still trails his rival by 4:24 in the overall classification.
With the overall victory all but confirmed for Pogačar, it was the fight for the final spot on the podium that was still in play. Kelso’s Oscar Onley fought valiantly in a bid to topple Florian Lipowitz’s lead in the white jersey as best young rider, but the German ultimately held firm and increased his gap to Onley to more than a minute.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Ben Healy came home in eighth on the stage to defend his place in the top ten for EF Education-EasyPost. Primož Roglič dropped down three places to eighth overall after shipping time in the closing kilometres.
The race continues on Saturday with a 184 kilometre transitional stage between Nantua and Pontarlier as the Tour gradually edges closer to Paris.
How it happened
The shortened stage meant that there was aggression from the start as the climbers of the peloton looked to steal a march on their rivals before the HC Col du Pré began. Primož Roglič was on the attack once more for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe as the German team looked to defend Florian Lipowitz’s third place in the general classification.
Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) managed to join Roglič after the Slovenian pushed clear of a group containing Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), the winner on Mont Ventoux, Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers), Einer Rubio (Movistar), Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Bruno Armirail of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.
Scores of riders began to suffer on the steep ramps of the Col du Pré, including Matteo Jorgenson and Wout van Aert. With 66 kilometres to ride, Paret-Peintre bridged across to the two leaders as they continued to tackle the never-ending hairpins.
Paret-Peintre and Roglič tore down the descent and into the Cormet de Roselend which left Martinez gritting his teeth as he tried to hold the merciless pace predominantly set by the Frenchman. After managing to successfully keep tabs on his breakaway compatriots, Martinez surprised the duo at the summit and came around them to take maximum points in the mountains classification.
Rain started to fall as the breakaway began the descent and entered the final 40 kilometres of the stage. Roglič capitalised on the reluctance of the other two riders to descend the mountain at speed and soon took off into the distance. The four-time Vuelta a España winner ripped through the descent; his disc brakes howling as he opened up a gap of over a minute to the peloton led by Tadej Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
Due to his team leader evidently wanting another stage win, Tim Wellens put the hammer down in the valley road and soon began to eat into Roglič’s advantage. The gap stood at just 25 seconds as the weather began to worsen. He was then caught as the riders came inside 20 kilometres to go and dropped straight out of the back of the yellow jersey group as Wellens continued to ride hard.
An acceleration from Pogačar finally came as he attacked over the top of a move from Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers). Jonas Vingegaard was the only rider able to follow. Arensman was able to drag himself back on terms and instantly attacked again, quickly opening a gap of half a minute. The Dutchman held on to claim the victory ahead of both Pogačar and Vingegaard.
Results
Tour de France stage 19, Albertville > La Plagne (93.1km)
1. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, in 2:46:06
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2s
3. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, same time
4. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +6s
5. Oscar Onley (Gbr) Picnic Post NL, +47s
6. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R la Mondiale, +1:34
7. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +1:41
8. Ben Healy (Ire) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:19
9. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step, +3:47
10. Simon Yates (Gbr) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:54
General classification after stage 19
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 69:41:46
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +4:24
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +11:09
4. Oscar Onley (Gbr) Pinic-PostNL, +12:12
5. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +17:12
6. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +20:14
7. Kévin Vaquelin (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +22:35
8. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +12:49
9. Ben Healy (Ire) Ef Education-EasyPost, +28:02
10. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, +34:34
