Tour de France: Teuns wins atop La Planche des Belles Filles

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Stage 6 was billed as the first ‘real test’ of the 2019 Tour de France, and indeed there were plenty of developments on La Planche des Belles Filles. Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida) claimed stage honours, using the final steep ramps to pull away from breakaway companion Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), for whom consolation came in the form of the yellow jersey he wrestled from Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep).

As for the much-anticipated clues in the battle for the overall title, Geraint Thomas brushed off the doubts surrounding his pre-race form and staked a strong claim to leadership of Team Ineos, while Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) suffered a major blow to his hopes of improving on his 2016 and 2017 podiums.

This was the fourth appearance of La Planche des Belles Filles in the past eight editions of the Tour, though it was a very different proposition to 2012, 2014, and 2017. Not only was it preceded by six categorised climbs, the old finish line was succeeded by an extra kilometre of steep gravel tracks rising to the very peak of the Vosges mountain.

It was there that Thomas, who crashed out of the Tour de Suisse last month, attacked in the final 400 metres to finish as the best of the GC contenders in fourth place behind Xandro Meurisse (Wanty-Gobert), who had been in the breakaway. He caught and passed Alaphilippe in the dying metres, the Frenchman having burst clear of the GC group on the gravel in a desperate bid to hold onto the maillot jaune.

Having started the day 1:43 ahead of Ciccone, Alaphilippe managed to stop the clock at 1:35 but saw yellow slip away due to the bonus seconds the Italian gained for his second place and also at the ‘Bonus Point’ at the top of the penultimate climb. He may have missed out on the stage but it was another huge moment in 24-year-old Ciccone's young career, having won a stage and the mountains classification at the Giro d’Italia in May.

Ciccone will wear yellow for the next few stages but in terms of who’ll be wearing it in Paris at the end of the month, Thomas now assumes favourite status, bursting clear on a climb he said didn’t suit him. He also surely now becomes the Ineos ‘Plan A’, finishing nine seconds ahead of co-leader Egan Bernal.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), whose name was painted all over the road in his home region, looked strong as he went after Thomas to place fifth, two seconds back, while Nairo Quintana (Movistar) came home with Emmanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) a further five seconds back. His teammate Mikel Landa had gone on the offensive earlier on the climb and finished with Bernal at nine seconds, along with Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo).

Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) conceded 14 seconds to Thomas, and Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) 18, while the damage was more serious for Enric Mas (Deceuninck-QuickStep) – 33 seconds – and Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) – 35 seconds.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) said La Planche would decide whether he had the form to go for the overall title, but his loss of 51 seconds might just steer him towards stage hunting.

The biggest damage, however, was sustained by Bardet, who was already dangling at the back of the GC group on the tarmac before losing contact as soon as the gravel section began. He struggled badly on the double-digit gradients and came to a halt as his front wheel hit the line, some 1:09 behind Thomas. Added to his significant losses in the stage 2 team time trial, the Frenchman is on the ropes.

Ciccone leads the race by six seconds over Alaphilippe, with Teuns now third at 32 seconds and George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma), who outperformed his leader Kruijswijk, fourth at 47 seconds. Thomas is fifth at 49 seconds, overtaking Bernal by four seconds, while Pinot is a further five seconds back. Kruijswijk, who was third overall at the start of the day thanks to Jumbo’s TTT victory, slipped to eighth at 1:04, with Michael Woods ninth, just ahead of his leader Uran. The rest of the pre-race favourites are within a minute of Thomas, with the exception of Nibali and Porte (1:07) and, of course, Bardet (2:08).

Teuns strikes gold, Ciccone yellow

Dylan Teuns had never won a Grand Tour stage before today, but not for lack of trying. The Belgian puncheur was a constant in breakaways at last year's Vuelta a Espana but only racked up a frustrating string of near misses. Here, on his Tour de France debut, he struck gold.

The Belgian, whose form was evident from his stage win in last month's Criterium du Dauphine, was part of a 14-rider breakaway that formed early and with a minimum of fuss on the 160,5km stage from Mulhouse to the very top of La Planche des Belles Filles. Lotto Soudal were the instigators, through Thomas De Gendt and mountains classification leader Tim Wellens, and the group also contained: Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R-La Mondiale), Serge Pauwels (CCC), Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo), Nikias Arndt (Sunweb), Natnael Berhane (Cofidis), Fabien Grellier (Total Direct Energie), Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin), Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and André Greipel (Arkéa-Samsic).

Wellens helped himself to KOM points as the break gained a lead of eight minutes over the Markstein (Category-1, km-43.5), Grand Ballon (Cat-3, km-50.5), and Col du Hundsruck (Cat 2, km-74). The tide started to turn as the peloton woke up on the upper slopes of the Ballon d'Alsace (Cat-1, km-105) but the ball was by then firmly in the break's court.

De Gendt went solo over the top of the Col des Croix (Cat-3, km-123.5) but was caught as Ciccone's teammate Julien Bernard turned the tables on the Col des Chevreres (Cat-2, km-141.5). Over the top and down the descent, only Ciccone, Teuns, Wellens, and Meurisse remained out front to take on the final climb of La Planche des Belles Filles - 7km at 8.7 per cent.

The quartet initially appeared to ride cagily but, around 4.5km from the summit, Ciccone took responsibility and turned the screw, causing Wellens and then Meurisse to fall away. Ciconne and Teuns then rode the rest of the climb together, the Italian trying a couple of brief digs but Teuns showing no signs of shifting.

After the ultra-steep ramp that led to the old finish line, they hit the gravel, Ciccone leading until around 400 metres to go. Teuns had no option to rise from the saddle as the gradients exceeded 20 per cent, and while it looked like Ciccone was poised in the wheel, it soon emerged he was hanging in rather than ready to spring. On the 24 per cent kick up to the line Teuns moved clear convincingly, raising his arms out wide as a race official rushed to keep him upright, such was the lack of speed with which he crossed the line.

"It's unbelievable. I knew in the Dauphiné that I was good. In the meantime, I worked a little bit but not too much because there was not a lot of time. To get a win already this week is incredible, and I didn't expect it. Today, I knew there was a chance, and if the chance came I would take it to go in the breakaway. I did everything," Teuns said.

"I knew Ciccone was the main guy in the finale. I'm so happy that I finished it off. When I saw my mom and dad and my girlfriend at the bottom, when I came down, it was pretty emotional."

Ciccone was well beaten and lost 11 seconds in the dying metres, though it turned out to be enough to secure him the overall lead of the race.

"To wear the yellow jersey is the dream," he said. "I'm speechless, I can't believe it."

The GC battle

The Planche des Belles Filles has been something of a ramp test in previous years, with only small gaps between the GC riders who have been fresh both in terms of the stage and the Tour as a whole. This time, the Planche was preceded by almost 3000 metres of elevation gain on a parcours totalling 160.5km.

Yet, most of the overall contenders commented on how steady the going was for much of the day. Deceuninck-QuickStep were charged with defending Alaphilippe’s yellow jersey but, built more around Elia Viviani, didn’t really have the team to do it. Barring a brief stint from Yves Lampaert, it was a day of Kasper Asgreen tapping out a steady tempo over the climbs. Ineos sat just behind, always threatening to take it up but never doing so, and the gap to the breakaway yawned out to beyond eight minutes.

Things changed towards the top of the Ballon d’Alsace with just over 50km to go, as Movistar took up the reins. The gap quickly started to fall and the peloton even split in two for a short while on the descent. Bora-Hansgrohe and Jumbo-Visma chipped in on the next couple of climbs but it was the Spanish team who assumed responsibility. The question mark over Alejandro Valverde’s role – and whether he was secretly lining up a GC bid – was erased when the world champion came to the fore on the final two climbs.

By contrast, question marks were raised over Ineos, who lost Wout Poels, Jonathan Castroviejo, and Gianni Moscon on the penultimate climb of the Col des Chevreres. Only Michal Kwiatkowski was left with Thomas and Bernal on La Planche des Belles Filles, and he only managed a kilometre or so on the front, leaving his leaders isolated 3km from the summit of a climb the team have dominated in the past.

Valverde’s teammate Mikel Landa was the rider who’d put Kwiatkowski under pressure, countering an attack from Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) to go it alone from just under 4km out. Landa was eventually caught inside the final kilometre and finished two seconds behind Quintana, but it was an indication that Movistar are prepared to use their two-pronged attack.

With Thomas and Bernal isolated, Groupama-FDJ took up the chase, and 22-year-old David Gaudu produced a sterling ride to reduce the gap to Landa and stretch the already-reduced group of contenders to absolute breaking point. As the gradients ramped up well into the double digits, with Pinot’s name painted tens of times on the tarmac, Bardet and Kruijswijk started to suffer at the back of the group.

As the tarmac turned to gravel, however, it exploded. Alaphilippe shot out of the front and Bardet out of the back. The yellow jersey’s acceleration was vicious and it looked like he might just save his overall lead after all, having started the climb four minutes down on the break. Thomas emerged in pursuit and managed to overhaul the fading Frenchman, while both lost speed in the dying metres compared to Pinot who wasn’t able to follow the initial surge but finished strong.

In each of the Tour’s past visits to La Planche des Belles Filles, the yellow jersey has gone to the rider who would go on to wear it in Paris. Ciccone will surely break that trend, and there wasn’t enough to make this a truly decisive stage in the overall contest, but it has nevertheless set the tone.

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