July 17 had all the ingredients of a great day of racing on the roads of Alsace. After two stages tailored to the sprinters, the breakaway specialists were eager to get back on the attack.
From the opening kilometres, around fifty riders went clear in two successive moves, representing nearly a third of the peloton. Jordan Jegat, Nicolas Breuillard and Thibault Guernalec featured in the first group, before Mattéo Vercher and Joris Delbove bridged across in the second.
The two groups eventually came together after around 100 kilometres of fast-paced racing. Thanks in particular to the hard work of Thibault Guernalec at the front, the breakaway maintained an advantage of close to eight minutes over the yellow jersey’s peloton for a long period.
After our Breton powerhouse had done his share of the work, Team TotalEnergies’ climbers took over on the ascent of the Ballon d’Alsace. Jordan Jegat and Nicolas Breuillard stayed with the strongest riders for much of the climb, with Jegat cresting the summit in the lead before launching into the final descent.
Following a fast descent and a thrilling finale, Jordan Jegat reached Belfort with victory in his sights. He eventually crossed the line in an excellent seventh place, narrowly missing out against faster finishers in the sprint.
One minute later, Nicolas Breuillard finished 14th, capping off another courageous day on the attack.
While he would undoubtedly have preferred to raise his arms in celebration, Jordan Jegat can take plenty of satisfaction from a superb move up the general classification. Thanks to his breakaway effort, the Breton climbs eight places and now sits 11th overall.
Another sign of Team TotalEnergies’ outstanding collective performance is the team classification, where the squad has climbed to 10th place among the world’s best WorldTour teams. A fitting reward for the commitment and determination shown by all eight of our riders still in the race.
