One day after the difficult stage for Intermarché-Circus-Wanty with the loss of leader Louis Meintjes following a crash, the team of Jean-François Bourlart started the sixteenth stage of the Tour de France with a fighting spirit.
The Portuguese rider Rui Costa represented the Walloon team in a breakaway of 30 riders in this second consecutive day in the Alps, during which more than 4000 meters had to be climbed.
The former world champion tried an audacious tactic on the Col de La Croix Fry, leading the race solo. He resisted in the lead until the top of this climb, 55 kilometer before the finish, until he was caught by the favourites.
Just like his six teammates who are still in the race, Frenchman Adrien Petit managed to reach the finish line despite the pain and the consequences of his crash the day before. He was rewarded with the combativity award in this sixteenth stage.
Today, Biniam Girmay was involved in two crashes caused by spectators. First with 148 kilometer to go, when a rider of Jumbo-Visma touched a person in the public, and then after the stage, when he descended the Col de Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc to return to the team bus. If both incidents seem to have no important consequences, Girmay suffers from pain at the hip.
“Today I experienced one of the hardest days on the bike in my life. From the very beginning I suffered. I stayed concentrated on my efforts, without giving up mentally, even though I was on the limit at certain moments. On the Col de la Forclaz I was the first dropped rider in the peloton. I went all out in the downhill to get back to join the grupetto. The cols de La Croix Fry and d’Aravis were like hell. Luckily there were so many people giving me a boost. I finished all of my previous participations of the Tour de France. I will give everything to reach Paris also this time. The rest day comes at a good moment, but we will see how I recover because the last week will be incredibly hard.”
