Favorites lose time as Cross Winds Play Havoc of Stage 7

Landa, Pogacar, Porte, Mollema, Trentin, Van Avermaet , Carapaz, lose time as they miss the front group on the run into Lavaur. Wout van Aert wins his second stage

It was a exciting stage, from the start Bora-hansgrohe put the hammer down for Sagan.

Sprinters including Sam Bennett, Dani Martinez, Caleb Ewan, Giacomo Nizzolo, Elia Viviani, Cees Bol, Alexander Kristoff were distanced on the first climb.

With 40 kms to go the run down from the Col de Peyronnenc, the route changed direction at Castres, tracking west but slightly north, turning into a tail-crosswind. High winds and exposed roads split the race into echelons. 

Team Ineos put the hammer down and Landa, Pogacar, Porte, Mollema, Trentin, Van Avermaet and Carapaz were all casulties, isolated in a group over 1 minute behind.

In the sprint, Boasson Hagen wound up first, Alaphilippe cam round on the left hand side but bumped into another rider and raised his hand to complain. Wout van Aert cam round on the right hand side a few places down to power around everyone to take stage Victory.

Adam Yates stayed out of trouble and keeps the Yellow Jersey.

Sam Bennet lost the Green Jersey, it went back to Peter Sagan after Bora-Hansgrohe tactics of distancing the sprinters early on in the stage.

The race enters the Pyrenees and stage 8 is designed on a course that will be both dynamic and demanding. In less than 100 kilometres, the riders will have to reach the Col de Menté followed by the Port de Balès and the Col de Peyresourde. A good descender could then have the opportunity to make a difference on the final descent with arounf ten kilometres to the finish.

VIDEO: 2020 Tour de France Stage 7 Highlights

2020 Tour de France Stage 7 Top 10

1 Wout van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 03:32:03
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
3 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
4 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis
5 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
6 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
7 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
8 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
9 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
10 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team

2020 Tour de France GC after Stage 7

1  Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 30:36:00
2 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 00:00:03
3  Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis 00:00:09
4 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 00:00:13
5 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 00:00:13
6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic 00:00:13
7 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 00:00:13
8 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team 00:00:13
9 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:13
10 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Pro Cycling 00:00:13