The Tour de France is now not simply about the massive stars and the battle for the yellow jersey. Hugo Houle’s win in Foix, in the baking warmth of a Pyrenean afternoon, a story of resilience in the context of profound loss, trumped any drama that Tadej Pogacar or Jonas Vingegaard should supply as the stalemate between them continued.
Instead the day belonged to the 31-year-old Houle from Quebec, of the Israel-Premier Tech team, who made stage sixteen the largest win of his profession and then straight away paid tribute to his brother, Pierrik, who used to be killed via a hit-and-run driver whilst out strolling a decade ago.
“It was once a dream to win for my brother,” Houle stated of his lone damage with 39 kilometres remaining. “I desired to win a stage in his honour. If I wrote a dream about how I’d win stages, it would be precisely like this.”
Houle and his brother competed in biking and triathlon. “When he died there was once no one to share the story,” he said. “That used to be my way to preserve believing. That used to be my motivation, to do it for my little brother. I had no thought I may want to do it and nowadays I did.”
On some other afternoon of searing temperatures a breakaway team of 29 riders, such as Houle, took structure as the peloton left Carcassonne and headed south into the Ariege. Best positioned of the breakaway riders used to be Aleksandr Vlasov, driving for Bora-Hansgrohe, who had started out the stage 10 and a half of minutes at the back of Jumbo Visma’s race leader, Vingegaard.
Although fighting the warmness used to be a large situation for the peloton, Covid-19 used to be once more a issue with two riders, Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Mikaël Cherel (AG2R-Citroën) trying out effective and withdrawing earlier than the stage. Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) end with damaged ribs whilst Vlasov’s teammate, Lennard Kämna, additionally left the race due to what his group referred to as a chronic cold.
Alongside Houle and Vlasov in the ruin used to be the factors classification leader, Wout van Aert, one of Vingegaard’s key guide riders. Whether Van Aert was once there for his very own ambitions, notwithstanding the loss of Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruiswijk from the Jumbo‑Visma lineup, or to grant aid to the race chief in the tournament of late attacks, used to be unclear.
The defending champion Pogacar, searching for to make inroads into the Dane’s standard lead, used to be the predominant animator amongst the favourites. The UAE Emirates rider’s first attacks got here quickly earlier than the summit of the Port de Lers, and compelled a resolution on the closing metres to the pinnacle of the climb. They had been accompanied with the aid of a similarly leap nearly straight away on the descent in the direction of the brutal ultimate climb, the Mur de Péguère.
On every occasion, however, Vingegaard used to be his equal, with Ineos Grenadiers’ Geraint Thomas following a few metres behind, earlier than once more catching up on the descent. Ahead, Houle raced into Foix to take his first Tour stage win, and his team’s 2nd in this year’s race.
However, Jumbo-Visma’s approaches once more raised eyebrows. Van Aert argued that his selection to race in the destroy used to be to make sure Vingegaard had guide if he wanted it. “The most necessary issue for the subsequent two days is to provide the entirety to help Jonas and the team,” Van Aert insisted
But the momentum has swung again in Vingegaard’s favour. Marc Soler, one of Pogacar’s key teammates, completed backyard the time restriction after struggling via the stage, absolutely unwell. That, and Pogacar’s lack of ability to land a telling blow, ought to soothe any Jumbo-Visma anxieties.
Romain Bardet, who began the stage in fourth area overall, tumbled to ninth in the customary classification. “I used to be feverish, with headaches,” he said. “It was once a nightmare. Without my teammates, I may additionally now not have completed the stage. I sincerely didn’t sense well, with chills. I didn’t see it coming.”
But the story of the day used to be that of Houle and his liked misplaced brother. “He went for a run and he in no way got here back,” the Canadian informed a sombre press room. “Me and my family, we had to search for him. I discovered him about three hours later. I took his hand and I noticed the blood go from his ear and his mouth. That’s when I knew he was once dead. I can inform you it hits you rather hard.”