Until Carlos Betancur attacked to win the stage, his team – Ag2r-La Mondiale – were suffering a disastrous day. A crash and a puncture for Romain Bardet saw his hopes of competing for the stage destroyed while Maxime Bouet was forced to abandon and Samuel Dumoulin, placed fourth overall prior to the stage, also suffered a mechanical and lost significant time.
Fortunately for the French team however, the same misfortune does not appear to have struck down Betancur. Having set the pace on the final descent alongside Vincenzo Nibali, he then went again when the road levelled out to instigate the winning attack. The nature of his stage victory showed a level of experience beyond his 24 years, riding cleverly behind his fellow escapees in the final few hundred metres before accelerating to victory. Ag2r-La Mondiale are packed with talented young riders, and its lucky for them they have such a high-quality ‘plan B’.
