
Jasper PHILIPSEN. 10 with honors. Clever him and his Alpecin teammates who don't just think about hair, but also about situations and changing winds. Alpecin takes care of hair, but it's clear these are guys who also have brains: all spectacular. Stunning in the sprint, they launch the guy from Mol (like Tom Boonen) brilliantly and he, Jasper, easily wins a sprint that wasn't easy at all. Stage and jersey: third seasonal victory, 10th at the Tour, 54th in his career. What can you say? It was supposed to be a sprinters' stage and a sprinter won. But what happened, what kind of stage was it, how did they race? At the Tour nothing is written, nothing is trivial: here is the world's best - of the top twenty, 17 are here, only Carapaz and Ciccone are dealing with ailments and road incidents and Del Toro is missing, but he's young and it's right that he catches his breath after the Giro. Here is the best of the best and a flat stage and a bit of wind are enough to unleash hell.
Biniam GIRMAY. 9. In the end, he can't be blamed for anything: he was where he needed to be. He only has one problem: Jasper is faster than him. When someone is stronger, it's healthy to accept it.
Søren WAERENSKJOLD. 8.5. The 25-year-old Norwegian is there with several teammates and that's already a success. Then he finishes on the podium: not bad.
Anthony TURGIS. 8. The 31-year-old French sprinter from TotalEnergies tries to slip between the fast meshes of those who were good and quick to stay up front: that's already a great merit.
Matteo TRENTIN. 8. What can you say? At 35, he's still there elbowing, resisting years and increasingly crazy, increasingly sustained speed. The guy from Borgo Valsugana is indestructible and obtains a fifth place of extremely high technical value, which only partially consoles us.
Clement RUSSO. 6.5. For those who arrive up front, only compliments, he just needs to explain why two teammates finish 6th and 7th (Penhotet).
Tadej POGACAR. 7. It's called class, on this I believe there can be no discussion. The wind surprises? Not him. He stays there, with a great Tim Wellens doing an incredible job.
Jonas VINGEGAARD. 7. He doesn't sleep either and he's as reactive as few others. The Dane is lively. Lively and quick. He's first on Mont Noir, the last GPM of the stage, just to stay trained, to see what effect it has while waiting for better days, but this was already very good.
Jonathan MILAN. 5.5. Wins the intermediate sprint at La Motte-au-Bois, then gets caught off guard when it's time to form an echelon. He who is a cyclone but above all a rookie is forced to watch those who go away with the wind.
Tim MERLIER. 4. A man of experience, current European champion, for him the defeat is even more of a defeat.
Remco EVENEPOEL. 4. We'll see who he'll be angry with tonight.
Primoz ROGLIC. 4. His sports director Enrico Gasparotto is exemplary (vote 10): what happened? "He simply slept". Long live sincerity.
Simon YATES. 5. The Giro winner says the day before: "I certainly won't lose time on purpose". Today he arrives over 6 minutes late. He really lost it.
Ivan ROMEO. 5.5. He's very young, only 21 years old, but he's also talented: arrives over 6 minutes late.
Lenny MARTINEZ. 5.5. Another 21-year-old talented rider who pays a monstrous gap on an apparently trivial day. Arrives last, almost ten minutes late.
Filippo GANNA. 17. We had other records to hit and renew, we bring home one we could absolutely do without: Filippo is the first retired rider of this 112th Tour. After 52 km he falls with Sean Flynn. Ganna is assisted by race doctors, before taking his bike and making up over 2' of delay in about twenty kilometers. The Piedmontese detaches again when the race encounters a pavé côte, Mont Cassel. Then he stops, in pain, defeated. Curse!
Stefan BISSEGGER. 17. He too, due to the aftermath of the fall, is forced to raise the white flag.
Benjamin THOMAS. 7. First at the Mont Cassell finish line, falls and overwhelms Vercher. He races aggressively, takes home the first polka dot jersey, but that slip is pure slapstick.