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Tour de France 2019

 

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Egan Bernal wins the 2019 Tour de France

Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) won the 2019 Tour de France in Paris – his and Colombia's first – while Lotto Soudal's Caleb Ewan won the final stage, making it the Australian's third triumph at this year's race.

Bernal crossed the finish line on the Champs-Elysées in 29th place on the stage, again hand-in-hand with teammate and 2018 Tour champion Geraint Thomas, just like the pair had on the previous day into Val Thorens.

What could have become a problematic situation for Team Ineos was anything but in the last few days of the Tour, as Thomas conceded that Bernal was the better rider at this year's race, while Bernal had a special thank you for his teammate on the final podium. the Tour, as Thomas conceded that Bernal was the better rider at this year's race, while Bernal had a special thank you for Thomason the final podium.

"Thank you to G [Geraint] for the opportunity, and to all the team for believing in me," Bernal said in his victory speech. "I think that today I am the happiest guy in the world. I just won the Tour de France, and I can't believe it."

Bernal beat Thomas by 1:11, while the podium was completed by Jumbo-Visma's Steven Kruijswijk, a further 20 seconds down, capping off an extremely successful Tour for the Dutch WorldTour team.

Ewan's third stage win came courtesy of a last-minute dash up the right side of the road next to the barriers, with Jumbo-Visma's Dylan Groenewegen making the same move on the other side of the road, but falling short of taking his second stage win. Total Direct Energie's Niccolò Bonifazio was third, while Max Richeze was fourth, having been forced into taking up the reins for Deceuninck-QuickStep, who appeared to be in disarray in the closing kilometres, unable to find their main sprinter, Elia Viviani.

"I can't believe I just won on the Champs-Elysées," Ewan told reporters after just completing what was his first Tour de France. "When we rolled onto the Champs-Elysées, I almost had tears in my eyes; it was such a surreal feeling. I can't believe I just won the stage."

Stage 21 results

#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal3:04:08
2Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
3Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
4Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
6André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa Samsic
7Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
8Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
9Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
10Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

Final general classification
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos82:57:00
2Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos0:01:11
3Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma0:01:31
4Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe0:01:56
5Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep0:04:05
6Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team0:04:23
7Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First0:05:15
8Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team0:05:30
9Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team0:06:12
10Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic0:07:32

Tour de France Overview

Tour de France 2019 Start List

With four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome (Team Ineos) out through injury, this year's Tour de France is a wide open affair. Defending champion Geraint Thomas returns and the Welsh rider will be joined by his talented young Ineos teammate Egan Bernal, with the Colombian also a contender for the yellow jersey.

The home nation will depend on Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) - both former podium finishers - while the other contenders include Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Mikel Landa (Movistar), Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Rigoberto Urán, and Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma).

In terms of the sprinters, Peter Sagan leads the way and, although he may not be the fastest rider in the flat bunch finishes, he will start the Tour de France as the favourite for the points classification, having won the green jersey in six of the past seven Tours. Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Vimsa) is arguably the strongest sprinter in the world at the moment, and he'll also face competition from debutant Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), and André Greipel (Arkéa-Samsic). There'll be no Mark Cavendish, who wasn't selected by Dimension Data, or Fernando Gaviria (UAE), who has a knee injury. 

The race route

The 2019 Tour de France will celebrate the legendary career of Belgian Eddy Merckx 50 years after his first Tour victory, with the Grand Départ to be held in Brussels on July 6. The race also celebrates the 100th year of the iconic maillot jaune (yellow jersey), which Merckx wore for a total of 96 days, more than any other rider in history.

The 2019 route, unveiled in Paris in October, covers 3,640 kilometres over 21 stages, with three stages apiece in the Pyrenees and Alps, five summit finishes, and seven peaks above the 2000-metre altitude mark. There are seven largely flat stages, a few medium mountain days, and only 54 kilometres of time trialling, split between one team time trial and one individual time trial.

The race will begin with a 192km stage taking in many of cycling's historic challenges across the Flemish and Walloon regions, including the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Stage 2 will be a 28km team time trial starting at the Palais Royal and finishing by the Brussels Atomium. Merckx claimed his first yellow jersey after his Faema team won a similar test in his home town of Sint-Pieters-Woluwe.

The race will then leave Belgium and head into France on stage 3's 214km race from Binche to Epernay, before heading south through the Vosges mountains and into the Massif Central. It's then down to the Pyrenees, with a 27.2km individual time trial in Pau preceding summit finishes on the mighty Col du Tourmalet and Prat d'Albis.

After the second rest day, the route heads to the Alps for three stages that include the Col d'Izoard, the Col du Galibier, and the Col d'Iseran – the highest paved road in Europe. The winner of the 2019 Tour de France will effectively be determined after one mammoth final climb to the finish line at Val Thorens on stage 20, before the race heads into Paris for the finale along the Champs-Elysées.

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