Fifth on the tough finish of the penultimate stage, Yves is on the verge of his second GC win.
For the third consecutive day, it was all about the last kilometer at Okolo Slovenska, which scheduled again a demanding uphill finish that took the pure sprinters out of contention, minutes after strong crosswinds on an exposed section and a strong tempo of Deceuninck – Quick-Step did the same with half of the field.
Reduced to some 60-odd riders, the peloton rode a searing pace going into the business end of the stage, Luxembourg Champion Bob Jungels and Petr Vakoč taking control of the matters once the hard-working Iljo Keisse peeled off the front following a huge effort he put in since the start of this day which journeyed from Ružomberok to Hlohovec, a small town located in southwestern Slovakia.
The final was again an uphill one, and Yves Lampaert grinded his way up, limiting the losses on Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), who outsprinted everyone else and even put some time into his opponents. Fifth over the line, the Belgian retained his yellow jersey, which he will carry into the last day of the race: “We were in aggressive mode today, giving everything out there, splitting the peloton in the crosswinds and then controlling the race until the finish, which was quite tough. I conceded a couple of seconds, but I continue in this nice jersey and it would be really nice to take it home tomorrow.”
Photo credit: ©Photo Stancik
Yves Lampaert 
