Published on : 09/15/2020
Jesus Herrada, Nicolas Edet and Guillaume Martin have attacked at the beginning and at the end of this 15th stage. And they intend to continue their pursuit until Sunday in order to fight for the stage victory.
They had it all - the strength, the shape and overflowing desire. The Cofidis riders have worked hard to animate the race. Jesus Herrada, Nicolas Edet then Guillaume Martin and Pierre-Luc Périchon tried to join the breakaway of the day.
And with 30 km to go, Guillaume Martin and Nicolas Edet took over the yellow jersey group before being caught by the train of the Jumbo-Visma again. At the finish line, the leader of the Cofidis team was among the leading group (29th). He keeps his 11th place in the overall classification, 6 min 45 sec away from the leader, Primoz Roglic.
"A ski slope rather than a cycling pass".
They will have to recover well because tomorrow's stage promises to be particularly difficult. Between Grenoble and Méribel, the riders will have to climb the col de la Madeleine (out of category, 17,1 km with 8,4%) before a final climb on the col de la Loze (21,5 km with 7,8%). "
Of course, there are 'only' two climbs, but they are very tough", explained Guillaume Martin.
The leader of the Cofidis team already saw this pass in July, together with Nicolas Edet, Pierre-Luc Périchon as well as Anthony Pérez and Victor Lafay. He says:
"it is a pass that isn't made to be done by car and almost not made to be done by bike. It is a road made for mules that has been paved for the occasion. That's why the slopes are so steep and regular. It feels more like being on a ski slope than on a cycle pass." That promises to be a great show on the roads of the Tour.
COMMENTS BY GUILLAUME MARTIN
Guillaume MARTIN:
"We know that it is now that we have to try to do our best on this Tour de France. I have tried to get into the breakaway at the beginning of the stage, but the Jumbo-Visma riders made me understand that this isn't possible because I was too close to them in the general classification. We don't have any regrets. We tried and we will try again in the next few days."