Danish race debutant Magnus Cort Nielsen on Sunday handed Astana their second consecutive victory when he won the 15th stage of the Tour de France.
Welshman Geraint Thomas of Team Sky maintained his 1 minute, 39 second race lead over teammate Chris Froome after a 181.5km ride from Millau in which the maillot jaune holder’s rivals tried but failed to launch a challenge.
However, Thomas and Froome lost teammate Gianni Moscon of Italy after he was thrown off the race after an altercation with a fellow rider, officials said.
Photo: AP
Thomas and the peloton soaked up futile attacks from Irishman Dan Martin of UAE Team Emirates and Rafa Majka of Bora-Hansgrohe before crossing the finish line just over 13 minutes in arrears on what, for them, was a comparatively easy stage ahead of the rest day.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good. Days like today are always a bit funny because you don’t really want to push. You want to recover as much as possible,” Thomas said.
However, the 32-year-old refused to speculate on whether he, and not Froome, would lead the team’s charge over the following, decisive stages in the Pyrenees.
“No honestly, I’m not thinking about that,” Thomas said. “I’m taking each day as it comes. I’m looking forward to the rest day, then the next stage, the next climb, and just keep on doing what we’re doing.”
Meanwhile, Astana took full advantage of what was a transition stage as Nielsen was one of two teammates who fought hard to get in a breakaway group of 29 riders, along with Michael Valgren.
When it came to the final kilometers, the race debutant seized the day.
Nielsen first underlined his ambitions 8km from the finish when he quickly countered Italian Domenico Pozzovivo’s effort to break clear, then 2km further on, Nielsen was quick to join Dutchman Bauke Mollema of Trek-Segafredo and Jon Izagirre of Bahrain-Merida when they left five of their breakaway companions behind.
A lack of cooperation in their wake meant the trio were allowed to build an insurmountable advantage, but Nielsen, 25, was simply unbeatable after launching his sprint just under 300m from the finish, where Izagirre finished second and Mollema third.
“I knew I had the legs to win and that I would be fastest at the line, but I still kept some powder dry in case,” the 25-year-old Dane said.
Meanwhile, race officials took the decision to eliminate Moscon after he was involved in a fracas with Elie Gesbert of Fortuneo-Samsic shortly after the start in Millau.
The Italian used heavy-handed tactics when Gesbert tried to help his team leader, Warren Barguil, join an early breakaway, officials said.
The commissaires classed the incident as a “particularly serious aggression” and threw the 24-year-old Italian off the race shortly after the stage finished.
Team Sky general manager Dave Brailsford said he accepted the decision to exclude Moscon.
“Gianni is desperately disappointed in his behavior and knows that he has let himself, the team and the race down,” Brailsford said in a statement. “We will address this incident with Gianni once the Tour is complete and decide then if any further action should be taken.”
It was not the first time Moscon has fallen foul of race officials.
Last year, he was handed a suspension by Team Sky after racially abusing Frenchman Kevin Reza at the Tour de Romandie.
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