Tour de France 2019: Alaphilippe keeps yellow before welcome rest day

Julian Alaphilippe dug deep to keep the overall Tour de France lead on Sunday as Simon Yates captured his second stage of this year’s race and defending champion Geraint Thomas kept his title hopes alive after a late surge.

Not many picked the Frenchman Alaphilippe  as the one to end the two daunting summit finishes in the Pyrenees with the lead, but at the Foix Prat d’Albi finish he donned the yellow jersey for an astonishing 11th time as reward for his swashbuckling performances that have lit up this tour.

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The Briton struggled on the final climb into the clouds, but then closed the gap on the leader to one minuted and 35 seconds, launching a late burst.

French fans could argue that Thibaut Pinot, who now stands at one minute and 50 seconds behind Alaphilippe in fourth spot, had staked a claim for performance of the day after winning Saturday’s stage and then leaving all the chief contenders behind him after attacking halfway up the Prat d’Albi 11km ascent.

Simon Yates also won Thursday’s stage, also on a long-distance breakaway, but his twin brother Adam’s Tour de France chances look completely cooked as he lost time again.

Additional reporting by AFP.