Published on : 07/07/2023
At the end of a particularly tense and tricky sprint, Bryan Coquard took 8th place. This is his 2nd top-10 finish in as many sprints in the Tour de France. Tomorrow, the Grande Boucle heads to Limoges, where Bryan came so close to victory in 2016.
The summer heat made an appearance on the Tour de France. While the skies over the Basque Country and the Pyrenees were low and gray, today's stage was reminiscent of a hot summer's day. The stage was particularly calm after the chaos of the previous day.
Limoges, a warm memory of 2016
With the outcome devolved to the sprinters, the breakaway didn't have much room for manoeuvre before the final pack. The road was particularly narrow in the final stretch, so positioning was crucial. Aided by Alexis Renard and Axel Zingle, Bryan Coquard managed to position himself well. At the finish, he scored his 2nd top-10 finish since the start of the Tour de France, following those in Bayonne (10th) and at the Nogaro circuit (4th).
Tomorrow, the Tour heads to Limoges, and Bryan is bound to have plenty of memories to share. It was here, in 2016, that he came within a whisker of stage victory, finishing 2nd, just millimeters behind Marcel Kittel. The Tour de France certainly loves a good story, and Bryan will be doing his utmost to write a new one tomorrow.
THEY SAID
Bryan Coquard: "The finish was stressful and chaotic. You had to rub hard to keep a good place. I tried to manage as best I could to secure a place of honor, and that's what happened. I knew the finish - I lived in Bordeaux for five years - and I knew that it wasn't very wide and that it was going to happen quickly. The important thing, above all, was to stay on the bike. The most important thing was not to crash. Tomorrow's finish is just what I'm looking for, on a false flat uphill. People talk to me every day about this finish... Of course, I want to do well!
Bingen Fernandez, sporting director: "It was a day with a complicated finish. We did everything we could to put Bryan in a good position, especially in the last 8 km as the peloton entered the city. He lost a few places in the final and gave it his all right up to the end, avoiding any crashes. Tomorrow's stage will be a little more complicated. Once again, we'll need to be in the best possible frame of mind to tackle the finish. And we'll have to do everything we can to allow Bryan to shine!