Julian Alaphilippe retained the yellow jersey, which he wears since the opening week.
Elia Viviani came close to his second victory at the Tour de France, only to be denied in the finale of the 177km stage 16, a loop around Nîmes, a city with a rich Roman heritage, which in the past has served as finish on numerous occasions at the Tour de France, but also as grand depart of the Vuelta a España.
Excellently guided by Michael Mørkøv and Maximiliano Richeze, who led him through the roundabouts which spiced up the closing kilometers of otherwise a quiet day, Viviani kicked out with 150 meters to go down the right-hand barriers and looked to be on the verge of prevailing, but was passed by Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) with just a few meters left and finished runner-up, scoring Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s ninth podium in 16 days.
Julian Alaphilippe finished safely in the bunch and took to the podium to receive the prestigious yellow jersey, which he’ll wear on Wednesday as the race continues its journey to the Alps. Alaphilippe, a double stage winner and one of the standout riders at this edition, carries a lead of more of one minute over his nearest opponents.
“There isn’t a proper day to recover at the Tour de France, but I felt good on Monday during the rest day. Today was very warm, but it was the same for everybody and all you can do is deal with it. That’s why I made sure of eating during the stage and drinking a lot. I’m happy that I kept the yellow jersey and I get to wear it for at least another day”, Julian said after the Tour de France’s 18th finish in Nîmes.
Photo credit: ©Chris Graythen/ Getty Images
