2019 Tour de France Stage 19 Results & Recap
Stage 19 of the 2019 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Bernal moves into yellow jersey\nBy Clara Beard
Egan Bernal claimed his first yellow jersey at just 22 years old after cresting the col d’Iseran first on stage 19, where officials called a halt to the race because of impassable winter slush conditions on the downhill portion.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what was happening,” Bernal said. “I’ve been told in the radio that the race was finished and I said ‘no I want to keep going’. There were talking to me in English and I was not sure. Only after I stopped and my director told me that I was in yellow, I felt relieved. It’s incredible. I can’t believe it. I want to ride full gas tomorrow and then arrive in Paris and once I cross the line, I’ll start believing this is true. There’s one hard stage remaining. It’s a short one. I’ll give it all on the road. To become the first Colombian winner of the Tour de France would be amazing.”
Julian Alaphilippe is now in second after being dropped by the Colombian on the HC climb, at 48 seconds back.
“I took some risks in the downhill of the Galibier after I took a gel and ten seconds to recover from my efforts,” Alaphilippe said. “Then I stayed focused on three curves and I had a motorbike in sight. The only mistake not to be made was to crash. I was at the limit but I took the first position of the group after I came across because I love going fast downhill and I wanted to show them that I was back. I promised to give it all in the mountains and I did. It’ll be the same again tomorrow and the day after. I won’t give up. I realize what’s happening in the country.”
At the start of the stage, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Pello Bilbao (Astana), Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) and Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) were the first to shake up proceedings. They dangled off the front for almost 30 kilometres before being caught by a large chase group. Meanwhile, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), starting the day in fifth on GC, looked to be in extreme knee pain and eventually had to abandon the stage.
Dylan van Baarle (Ineos), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hasngrohe), Tony Gallopin (AG2R-La Mondiale), Vincenzo Nibali and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida), Sébastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ), Alejandro Valverde, Marc Soler and Andrey Amador (Movistar), Pello Bilbao, Gorka Izagirre, Magnus Cort and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Laurens De Plus (Jumbo-Visma), Rigoberto Uran, Alberto Bettiol and Michael Woods (EF Education First), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Dan Martin and Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), Giulio Ciccone and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Michael Matthews (Sunweb), Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Roman Kreuziger (Dimension Data), Warren Barguil and Elie Gesbert (Arkéa-Samsic) made up the eventual breakaway.
Fireworks were predicted on the col d’Iseran, and they didn’t disappoint. On a day where Team Ineos had to drop Alaphilippe or they’d lose a chance at the yellow jersey forever, Thomas and Bernal traded attacks and the Colombian dropped each of his rivals to reach the summit solo, with Simon Yates a few seconds back.
And that was where the race ended. Race director Christian Prudhomme officially called an end to the stage because of a sudden winter storm causing landslides, hail and slush. There is no winner of the stage. \n
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