Matej Mohoric wins Tour de France stage 19, Jonas Vingegaard’s lead stays at 7min 35sec
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Team Bahrain Victorious' Matej Mohoric in action before crossing the finish line to win stage 19 of the Tour de France.
PHOTO: REUTERS
POLIGNY – Slovenian Matej Mohoric claimed his third victory on the Tour de France when he won the 19th stage on Friday, as his Bahrain Victorious team celebrated for the third time in the race, having started it under a cloud after Gino Mader’s death.
Mohoric, who has won on all three grand tours, pipped Thursday’s stage winner Kasper Asgreen of Denmark to the line, breaking into tears after a photo finish gave him the victory a couple of minutes later.
Mohoric’s victory comes just over a month after his Swiss teammate Mader died following a crash on the Tour de Suisse on June 16. Bahrain Victorious riders Pello Bilbao and Wout Poels also took Tour stage victories.
“We started this Tour under a lot of stress after the death of Gino and Matej had the ambition to win a stage. From the beginning, he was in great shape but was not rewarded until today,” Bahrain Victorious sports director Vladimir Miholjevic said.
“For us, doing this Tour at this level is something amazing. This stage was crazy, but we were always there. These guys always deliver. It’s a victory well deserved.
“We lost a team member, a family member and everyone in the team wanted to honour Gino. He will always be with us. It’s something we managed to transform into motivation.”
Added Mohoric on the emotional win: “Today I had to follow Kasper. For Gino, for everything. I needed to take his wheel and beat him on the line. When he attacked, I chased him and tried to follow him all the way to the top of the climb. I contributed, so we could stay away...
“I know I’m strong enough to win a stage in the Tour de France, because I’ve done it already. It’s emotional for me and for the team because of the hard times we have gone through.”
Australian Ben O’Connor was third in a three-man sprint ahead of a group of chasers who were caught by surprise when Asgreen attacked in the second short climb of the day.
Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard stayed safe in the bunch to retain the overall leader’s yellow jersey by 7min 35sec, ahead of Saturday’s hilly and treacherous penultimate stage between Belfort and the Markstein.
A large breakaway took shape on the bumpy roads of the Jura with a group of 30 chasing Victor Campenaerts. The Belgian was caught, and dropped, by O’Connor, Asgreen and Mohoric, who reached the top of the Cote d’Ivory first after jumping away from the peloton at the intermediate sprint.
With 15km left, the trio led a group of nine, featuring Mathieu van der Poel and green jersey holder Jasper Philipsen, by 15 seconds. They did not look back and O’Connor launched the sprint early, hoping to surprise his rivals, only for Asgreen to get into his slipstream and make his effort 300 metres from the line.
Mohoric followed and propelled his bike to the line just before the Danish rider. REUTERS
