It has been a long 10 days before the first rest day of the 2019 Tour de France, and the riders enjoyed a leisurely day in Albi, aside from the usual media obligations.
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Teams took easy cruises on their road bikes, with the exception of Geraint Thomas, Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) and Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) and other GC contenders who, despite there being two more stages before the individual time trial in Pau, opted to get some preparation done.
Before the riders get to Pau, the peloton has one flat stage that will have the sprinters - in particular Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) and Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) - eager to get back on top after being trounced by young Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) on stage 10.
Stage 12 on Thursday will be a big test to see if the climbers have kept their form when the peloton traverses the category 1 Col de Peyresourde and Hourquette d'Ancizan before the long descent into Bagneres de Bigorre.
Click or swipe through the gallery to see the riders of the Tour de France enjoying their rest day.
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