Published on : 07/18/2023
Even if time trials are not his favorite exercise, the Cofidis team leader is still less than 2 minutes off the top ten places in the general classification. And he'll be doing all he can to break into the prestigious top 10 by next Sunday.
The riders of the Tour de France were back in the crowds, with the outpouring of joy and the need to surpass themselves and give it their all. After a well-deserved day's rest, it's back to the road for the Tour de France's only time trial. On the programme: 22.4 km between Passy and Combloux and two difficult climbs, the last of which is a 2.5 km climb at 9.4%.
For the Cofidis riders, the day's exercise had to be carried out with application and seriousness. Axel Zingle was the first to set off (13:09), followed by Bryan Coquard (14:18), who had a sprint finish with Benoit Cosnefroy. For their part, Victor Lafay and Alexis Renard suffered a crash but were able to reach the finish. Ion Izagirre, particularly at ease on this route, finished in provisional 8th place before taking 21st place in the final (at 4 min 12 sec).
Martin, all eyes on what's next
Guillaume Martin got the "top 10" off to a flying start at 4:42pm.The Norman finished 46th (5 min 38 sec behind the day's winner). In the overall rankings, he dropped one place to 11th (at 19 min 56).But the rest of the week will give him the opportunity to regain his place in the top ten.
Tomorrow is the day of one of the Tour de France's toughest stages.It's expected to be a tough stage, with 165.7 km and four cols to climb, including two first-category ones (Col des Saisies and Cormet de Roselend) and the famous Col de la Loze. The Grande Boucle could be overturned on Wednesday, and the hierarchy of the "top 10" of the general classification could be changed. It's enough to give Guillaume Martin and the whole Cofidis team ideas.
THEY SAID
Guillaume Martin: "I don't know what happened to me, but my ears have been ringing for 15 minutes now, and I'm having trouble breathing. Maybe an asthma attack. It was a really difficult time, I couldn't push my legs. My only objective was to get to the end, which was hard enough in itself. I'll do the math tomorrow. For now, I'll just think about recovering.