REACTION
The emotion was palpable Friday, at the foot of the podium in Tignes, which was to host the end of the 19th stage of the Tour de France. Egan Bernal, who dispossessed Julian Alaphilippe of his leader's tunic, shared his joy with his father and companion. "It's amazing, I do not really know what happened, I attacked, everything was fine and I was suddenly told to stop," said the young rider of the Ineos team, 22 years old. "I did not want but I was told 'The race is over, neutralized' and then when I was told that I had the Yellow Jersey, I did not believe it. was perhaps the best place to stop, and at the time it seemed weird. "
"When I was given the jersey and the little lion, I felt like crying"
Bernal attacked a little more than five kilometers from the summit of the Iseran pass, the main difficulty of the 19th stage of the Tour that was to connect Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Tignes on Friday, which was stopped before the last climb in the final due to a hail storm and a landslide at Val d'Isère. The organizers decided not to award the stage victory and take the time at the top of the Iseran pass for the overall standings. In fact, Bernal has filled the minute and a half he was behind Alaphilippe and will start Saturday for the last alpine stage between Albertville and Val Thorens, 45 seconds ahead of the French and 1'03 "on his teammate Geraint Thomas.
"We are not yet in Paris, it remains a very hard stage," said Bernal. "But when I was given the Maillot and the little lion, I felt like crying, I still can not believe it." The next 48 hours promise to be very intense for the youngest in the pack, becoming the first Colombian to win the Great Loop.