Two days, two wins. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) came and pretty much smashed it to take his second straight sprint stage. Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team) grabbed second place, also again, and Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) rounded out the podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breakaway hero Liam Slock (Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9) gave it everything \u2014 in the break from the gun, then solo out front for the final 40km \u2014 only to get swallowed up by the bunch a heartbreaking 1.3km from the line<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not much to comment on with the finish, so let’s focus on the art of the long break instead. Hiding away in the peloton are riders who actively want<\/em> to be up the road for six hours, riding at 95% without a break, who’ll happily trade a stage’s worth of suffering for one shot at glory, those guys who we see so often, trying day after day to be in the<\/em> break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s cast back to 1991, and the longest successful break of the modern era: Thierry Marie in 1991. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Longest<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The 1991 Tour de France, Stage 6 and the 234km breakaway…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Race situation going into the stage: Rolf S\u00f8rensen of Ariostea had held the yellow jersey but crashed into a traffic island in stage 5, fracturing his clavicle. He finished that stage but couldn’t start stage six, so the race began without a yellow jersey at all. Greg Lemond, the defending champion, was the virtual leader on GC at that point, but LeMond declined to wear the jersey out of respect for S\u00f8rensen \u2014 a gesture in the tradition of Oca\u00f1a in 1971 and Hinault in 1980. Marie was 30th on GC at the start of the day, nowhere near a threat, which is exactly why nobody committed to chasing him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The move itself: he went clear just 25km into the stage, and his own team’s second DS, Bernard Quilfen, ended up shepherding him from the car rather than Cyrille Guimard. Quilfen was renowned when he was a pro for undertaking this kind of mad mission himself, so he got the job of supporting Marie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The lead swelled to 30 minutes at one point before the bunch woke up, but it was too late. He just kept opn powering into Le Havre, located in his native Normandy. He was alone for so long that he began singing songs to himself, to stave off the boredom! (See below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n