Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale have put on another great stage collectively and individually with
Ben O'Connor. On a day where he expected to have an easier ride, the red jersey was taken to the limit but resisted quite well and heads into the final days of the race still in the lead.
"I did not expect Carapaz's attack. We had to close a gap and we succeeded," O'Connor said in a post-race interview. "It was a tough stage, but I have to stay calm. In the end it was a good day." The French team had no desires to chase the day's breakaway, so it was not an overly difficult start of the day, with 42 riders going in the day's breakaway. None were from Decathlon, but Victor Lafay jumped in a second breakaway that was trailing halfway through the pelotons and would come in useful later.
