MUR DE BRETAGNE, France, (Reuters) – Alexis Vuillermoz earned the French their first victory on this year’s Tour de France, his final kick proving too hot to handle for the big guns in the eighth stage yesterday.
The AG2r-La Mondiale rider attacked twice in the final climb, a brutal two-kilometre ascent at an average gradient of 6.9 percent, and countered overall leader Chris Froome less than one-km from the line.
The 27-year-old Vuillermoz beat Ireland’s Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin) by five seconds while Spain’s Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was 10 seconds behind in third place after a 181.5-km ride from Rennes.
“I really wanted to go for the stage win today, it was all or nothing,” Vuillermoz, a former mountain biker, told reporters.
Team Sky’s Froome, the 2013 champion, still leads Slovakian Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) by 11 seconds and American Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) by 13 in the general classification.
Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali of Astana lost 10 seconds to the other members of the Big Four (Froome, Spain’s Alberto Contador and Colombian Nairo Quintana).
