From the start in Saint-Étienne it was race and chaos. Jumbo-Visma, which had been dominant so far, was remarkably little visible and Van Aert and Tiesj Benoot had to assist Jonas Vingegaard in the defense against an early attacking Tadej Pogacar. On top of the Côte de Saint-Just-Malmont, after 15 kilometers of race, order could be restored somewhat, but many riders, including Primoz Roglic, were already behind a lot.
Escape from 23
Moreover, it continued to go very fast, because it was difficult to escape. Eventually a group of 23 men was formed, including Bauke Mollema and mountain king Simon Geschke. The best placed rider at the front was Louis Meintjes, just over fifteen minutes from Vingegaard. Other big names included Jakob Fuglsang, Michael Matthews, Daniel Martinez, Rigoberto Uran, Alberto Bettiol, Stefan Küng and Thibaut Pinot.
This group quickly took a big lead, after which the peloton came back together behind them. Only a group around sprinter Caleb Ewan was more behind. So Mollema – who also had a teammate up front with Quinn Simmons – and co soon knew that they could compete for the stage victory.
At just under sixty kilometers from the finish, it was the same Simmons who opened the final with an attack. Finally Matthews pulled away and moments later he was joined by Andreas Kron, Luis Leon Sanchez and Felix Grössschartner. Behind it, things exploded on the Côte de la Fage and Mollema was unable to follow.
No luck for Lotto
In the front there was a little drama for Kron van Lotto-Soudal, the team that was also plagued with the fall of Ewan, who seemed to be driving. Thus there was no new Danish stage victory.
On the Côte de la Croix Neuve, the pursuers quickly approached, but Matthews pushed hard at the front. The Australian was joined by Bettiol just under three kilometers from the finish. The Italian threw the sprinter overboard with pain and effort. A few hectometres later, however, Matthews was back and took off again. He arrived solo 14 seconds ahead of Bettiol. Pinot was third.
Pogacar attacks
In the peloton the pace was thrown into the air on the Côte de la Fage by first Primoz Roglic and then Wout van Aert. This left an elite group on the way to the Côte de la Croix Neuve in Mende. There were only a few men left under the executioner pace of Brandon McNulty and Rafal Majka. Pogacar moved on a little later and only Vingegaard simply followed. The rest were trailed by the short col.