Ilan is our team’s best-placed rider, just one second separating him from the top ten.
Tarragona became on Sunday the southernmost city to be visited by the Grande Boucle, as it got to host the start of the second stage, a 168.5km trek to Barcelona. The peloton didn’t have an easy day in the saddle, the trio of Montjuic ascents stacked inside the final 30 kilometers making for an explosive fight for victory between the general classification contenders.
Barcelona’s “magical mountain”, averaging 9.3% over just 1.6 kilometers, Montjuic lived up to the expectations, and so did Ilan Van Wilder. Soudal Quick-Step’s Belgian, riding just his third Tour de France, came home with the main group on this stage won by Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) and jumped a total of eight places on the overall standings, where he sits now just outside the top ten.
The first road stage of this edition was a hard one, with a big fight for positioning at the bottom of the Montjuic and all-out effort on the final climb.
“The last 300 meters it was basically a full-gas sprint all the way to the top, and the heat didn’t help too, but I could match the pace of the other guys. I’m grateful to the team for bringing me in a good position and happy with the feeling and the legs I had, as it’s a really good sign for next week. Let’s see what we can now do on Monday”, said Ilan of the third stage, which will bring the race’s second uphill finish, in Les Angles, where the gaps are expected to widen.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
