Cofidis finally gets the long awaited win. Victor LaFay won with a daring last kilometer attack of a reduced peloton. He achieved the first Tour de France stage win for Cofidis since 2008. They have been made many attempts by trying to get in breakaways over the years, Guillaume Martin having strong placings in mountain stages and Benjamin Thomas being caught two hundred meters from the line in a stage last year, but a team member could finally raise his arms in a victory salute.
Route Description: This stages route was the longest of the Tour at 209km, and again it was hilly. This stage started by going thru a flat plain towards the Atlantic coast with the notorious hills of the Basque country on the horizon. The first half of the stage was flat with the sprint location coming before all the rated climbing. This stage was easier with less climbing than the first stage, but it included 2 Category 4, 2 category 3, and a Category 2 climb. The category 2 climb was none other than the famed Jazkibel climb that is used annually in Classica San Sebastian. The finish in San Sebastian was approximately seven kilometers of flat roads after the descent of the Jazkibel.
Race Summary and Analysis: This stage had plenty of action early on to be in the breakaway since so many riders had lost time in the general classification the previous day. Early attempts would be brought back by the peloton when the rider makeup did not satisfy the strongest teams. Eventually a breakaway would form with Neilson Powless, Edvald Boasson Hagen, and Remi Cavagna. They would eventually get a nearly five minute lead on the peloton before any of the climbs. Neilson Powless took the maximum points over the first two rated climbs with his two breakaway companions. On the third climb Remi Cavagna dropped out the lead to return to the peloton with the breakaway having at most a lead of two minutes and 45 seconds. On the fourth climb, a category 4, Powless would drop Boasson Hagen by the top and would descend with about a two minute lead on the peloton which was reduced due to the pace being set. Powless would ride thru the valley maintain and slightly increasing his lead over the peloton. Powless managed to have a two minute lead at the base of the Jazkibel, but the UAE team was setting a blistering pace to capture the bonus seconds at the top of the Jazkibel. Towards the top Jumbo-Visma took over the pace making, and at the top there was a sprint for the time bonuses between Simon Yates, Tadej Pogacar, and Jonas Vingegaard. The sprint would be won by Pogacar followed on his wheel by Vingegaard. They would slow down instead of pressing on as the descent began. This allowed most of the GC contenders and some contenders for the stage to catch back on during the descent and run in towards the line. Jumbo-Visma chased down several of the later stage attacks with the goal of having Wout Van Aert win the stage. At the one kilometer mark just after an attack had been reeled in is when Victor LaFay attacked. As soon as his initial surge was completed it was quite obvious he had gotten a good lead on the rest of the riders who would be chasing him. He was able to maintain a good amount of speed to fend off being caught all the way to the line. If the stage had been 10 meters longer he would have likely not won the stage as the group pursuing him was right on his rear wheel as he crossed the line and put up his arms in a victory tribute. This was an extraordinary victory for the team lead by Cedric Vasseur. The team continued to get invited to the Tour de France for many years even after they were demoted from World Tour status, but their efforts over the years at the Tour never resulted in stage wins. Today the team recompensed the organizers of the Tour de France with a spectacular victory on another exciting day of racing.
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