Second consecutive day in the breakaway for the Frenchman.
Valentin Paret-Peintre was in the spotlight on Sunday, when the prestigious World Tour race came to an end on Plateau de Solaison, after a decisive day that packed in four brutal classified climbs and 4000 meters.
The Frenchman was part of a seven-man group that opened a narrow gap on the peloton after the opening ten kilometers and went on to establish themselves a lead of more than two minutes after cresting the first ascent of the day. Once this happened, the peloton upped the tempo and began making up ground, but the escapees were undeterred by that and continued to do their own race.
Before the final climb, some of them got pegged back, but not Valentin, who attacked on the grueling slopes of Plateau de Solaison - an ascent which is set to feature at the Tour de France this summer - and took only one rider with him. Their time at the front of the race came to a conclusion with eight kilometers to go, on the steepest part of the climb, when Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) - who would go on to win the stage and the GC - caught and passed them.
Paret-Peintre continued to do a good effort on those stiff gradients, which saw him being named the most combative rider of the stage. It was for the second time this week that a Soudal Quick-Step rider took this prize - after Pepijn Reinderink, on stage five - making our team the only one with multiple awards in this category.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
