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Here’s Monday’s stage report from Jeremy Whittle.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider had been contesting the intermediate sprint at Isbergues when Coquard moved to the right and touched shoulders with another rider, before swerving across into the Belgian’s path, causing him to crash.
“I’m not a bad guy,” a visibly distressed Coquard said at the finish. “I apologise to Alpecin, even if I didn’t mean to do anything. I almost lost my shoe and there was nothing I could do.”
Preamble
Bonjour, tout le monde. Le Tour is Le Tour as we say every year. The casualties pile high, with Jasper Philipsen joining the list yesterday and Remco Evenepoel on the deck, but back up soon as they sped into Dunkirk. These flat stages are often where the pain is sharpest, the speed they rattle along at. Today, still in northern France, will be a bit different, with a Classic-style configuration, with lots of climbs before in the last third, the tough gets going, with repeated nasty climbs. One for the breakaway clubs, and hard work for the team captains, a day of rouleurs and puncheurs. And most probably Tadej Pogacar.
Per William Fotheringham’s pre-Tour guide.
A welter of little hills in the finale including the Rampe Saint-Hilaire, a 750m “wall” in the city centre, 5km from the finish; there will be huge stress for all the contenders trying to get in place for these. Evocatively, one of the late hills is the Côte de Bonsecours, where Jean Robic staged a final-day heist to win the 1947 Tour, but in the Pogacar era there’s not much chance of a repeat.
