Tour de France: Pantano wins in Culoz

Jarlinson Pantano took the biggest victory of his career and the first Tour de France stage win for his IAM Cycling team in Culoz. The Colombian bridged across to Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) on the testing descent from the Lacets du Grand Colombier and then out-sprinted the Polish champion to take the win from the day's breakaway.

The duo had distanced themselves from the day's early move of 30 riders on the finishing circuit, which included the 10km climb of the Lacets du Grand Colombier that crested with 14km to go. While Majka dropped Pantano before the top of the climb, he almost came to grief on the descent, just managing to keep it upright. The incident slowed him enough to allow Pantano to rejoin and fight for the stage victory.

Majka jumped early in the sprint and was overhauled by Pantano before the line, with the Colombian celebrating with his arms in the air.

Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R La Mondiale) out-sprinted Sebastian Reichenbach (FDJ) for third on the stage a few seconds behind Pantano and Majka after they failed to catch them on the descent. However, Reichenbach gained three minutes in the overall standings, moving up to 15th at 8:40.

Chris Froome finished in the front group, lead home by his loyal and super strong domestique Wout Poels. Froome rarely seemed in trouble during the mountainous stage, with only Astana trying to shake up the front group of GC contenders. Astana's surge and then a late attack by Roman Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) only served to distance US rider Tejay van Garderen (BMC), who lost 1:28 and slipped to eighth overall at 4:47.

Pantano’s victory was in stark contrast to a week ago, when he finished the stage to Andorra Arcalis under an umbrella to protect him from the heavy rain. Today he was far happier and even emotional as he talked of his win.

"It's an incredible day for me. I came to the Tour de France thinking I'd try to win a stage but to do it is difficult to believe," he said, holding back the tears with a lump in his throat.

"I'd hope to do it but this is incredible. I want to thank my IAM teammates, who did a great job for me in the attack. I also want to thank my family, especially my wife, who have always supported me. This is a special day for me."

A hard day in the Jura mountains

The stage profile showed six classified climbs in just 160km but other hidden climbs and twisting roads made everyone in the peloton nervous about the day through the little-known Jura mountains. It would be a day for a brave breakaway attempt and a test of Froome's grip on the yellow jersey before heading to Bern for the second rest day and then the final, decisive stages in the Alps next week.

The first climb came after just 23km and was a perfect launch pad for the break of the day. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) was aggressive from the start but surprisingly ran out of power when the real climb began and the real break formed. His rival for the polka-dot jersey, Majka, made sure he was there and dragged the move clear with a strong attack.

He was soon joined by 29 others to create an interesting break of 30. Also there were Jon Izagirre and Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Vincenzo Nibali and Tanel Kangert (Astana), Rafal Majka (Tinkoff), Domenico Pozzovivo and Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R-LaMondiale), George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo), Haimar Zubeldia (Trek), Stef Clement, Jérôme Coppel and Jarlinson Pantano (IAM), Pierre Rolland, Tom-Jelte Slagter and Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Drapac), Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data), Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), Steve Morabito and Sébastien Reichenbach (FDJ), Bartosz Huzarski (Bora-Argon 18), Alberto Losada and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha), Kristijan Durasek, Tsgabu Grmay and Jan Polanc (Lampre-Merida), Romain Sicard and Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie), Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick Step), Dani Navarro (Cofidis) and Ruben Plaza (Orica-BikeExchange).

Some were riding for the stage, some to set up their GC team leaders and other to help teammates in the attack. It was tactically fascinating to watch unfold. Behind, Team Sky first slowed the peloton to let the break form and then set a steady tempo and lead the chase. They also had their strategy for the day.

With the break formed and clear of the peloton, Majka turned his focus to hovering up mountain points. He was beaten by Voeckler on the lesser Col du Sappel and by Pauwels on the Col de Pisseloup but he scored some points to move past De Gendt. The Polish national champion then made sure he was up the road on the Grand Colombier and took 25 points to extend his lead and so pulled on the polka-dot jersey at the finish in Culoz. He has 127 points, with De Gendt back on 90.

Constant climbing takes it toll

The constant climbing took its toll on the break and the peloton. Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Drapac) blew the group apart on the lower slopes of the Grand Colombier and that inspired Dumoulin, Nibali and others to go after and past him. There was still 50km to race but the race was on.

Van Baarle was soon in trouble, as were Nibali and Dumoulin, but Majka and Zakarin came across, as did Jarlinson Pantano and Alexis Vuillermoz. Navarro also tried to put up a fight and challenge Majka for the polka-dot points but he quickly faded on the 6.8 per cent average gradient. The climb cut into the side of the mountain and into the rider's legs.

Pozzovivo, Vuillermoz, Pantano, Pauwels, Reichenbach, Navarro, Durasek, Alaphilippe tried to chase Zakarin and Majka but splintered on the final slopes of the Grand Colombier. It would be the descent that changed the scenario, with Majka and Pantano going clear as Zakarin suffered on the descent, perhaps still remembering his terrible crash on the descent of the Col d’Agnello at the Giro d’Italia.

The Grand Colombier also shook up the GC group, awaking the riders from their steady tempo set by the Team Sky metronomes. Astana lit the match with Diego Rosa upping the speed to prepare for Fabio Aru. The Sardinian did not attack before the summit but the peloton was reduced down to just 15 riders or so near the top. Interestingly Team Sky seemed on the back foot for perhaps the first time in the Tour de France but their signs of weakness did not last for long.

On the descent Nibali dropped back to help Rosa and so stretched out the peloton. Up front Majka and Pantano lead the race through the finish area with 24km and the final climb of the Lacets du Grand Colombier to go.

The final climb seemed promising but seemed to fizzle out under Team Sky’s control. Aru made his attack, got 100 metres but was quickly joined by Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) with Team Sky riding to bring them quickly back under control. Roman Bardet (AG2r-La Mondiale) tried to go clear near the summit but he was quickly pulled back too.

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