Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) ended the Tour de France Mûr de Bretagne stage disappointed after a broken spoke cost him over a minute in the overall. Dumoulin collided with French rival Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) at 5.7 kilometres remaining and just 3.7 to the base of the two-kilometre Mûr de Bretagne climb. He chased, but could not re-join in time and lost 53 seconds to stage winner Daniel Martin (UAE-Team Emirates) and other overall rivals. "I'm disappointment of course," Dumoulin said back at the team bus. "I would have liked to be in better position in the GC but that's how it is." >>> Five talking points from stage six of the 2018 Tour de France His GC position worsened because the UCI race jury added 20 seconds because of excessive drafting during his chase back to the group. With that, he now sits 19th overall at 1-23 minutes back from race leader Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing). It was a turn of fortune for Dumoulin who had come out of the first five days unscathed. Chris Froome (Sky), Richie Porte (BMC Racing), Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and others lost time due to crashes or incidents. Dumoulin lost his team-mate Michael Matthews (Sunweb) ahead of stage five due to fever. Now on stage six, he was hit with a 1-13 minute loss. "We know that the first five days we were very luckily with it but we also knew that it could hit us also, and it did today," Dumoulin explained. "It's very unfortunate, but it is how it is." He became the first Dutchman to win the Giro d'Italia in 2017 and this year placed second in the Giro behind Chris Froome. After six days of the Tour, he still remains a favourite despite the loss. "I hit the back wheel of Bardet when there was the movement in the peloton and I couldn't avoid it any more, and that's it. And I lost time," he added. Romain Bardet chases on during stage six of the 2018 Tour de France (Sunada) (Image credit: Yuzuru SUNADA) "I had a broken spoke with my front wheel. I needed to change wheels and chase to the finish as hard as possible but it was very difficult." Simon Geschke gave Dumoulin his front wheel. The "fatal" incident meant that Romain Bardet also suffered a time loss, finishing on top of the Mûr de Bretagne at 31 seconds back and slipping to 23rd at 1-45. "A spoke broke and I had to swap bikes with Tony Gallopin," Bardet explained. "Then I had to chase and that effort was fatal. It's never good to lose time. There are a lot of twists on the Tour and this time luck was not on our side."<doc-sep>Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) claimed after the stage that motorbike slip-streaming on the descent aided the stage victory of Primož Roglič (LottoNL-Jumbo). Roglič was the main aggressor of the top favourites, attacking a number of times on the final ascent of the stage, the Col d'Aubisque. He was brought back mostly through the efforts of Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) who was defending his second overall position from the Slovenian in fourth. Despite not being able to get a gap on the Aubisque uphill, Roglič continued to attack on the descent into Laurens, eventually obtaining a gap that he was able to extend all the way into the finish, winning the stage by 19 seconds. Zwift Cycling Central Podcast - Tour de France 2018 - G does it like a boss, as Roglic wins the stage Stage 19 of the 2018 Tour de France and Thomas controlled the race, as Primož Roglič won the stage, Christophe Mallet and Dave McKenzie debrief the stage, as well as the Froome performance today. Roglič drops off the Aubisque to land on Tour podium It was a double celebration for Primož Roglič with the LottoNL-Jumbo rider winning Stage 19 of the Tour de France and capturing a place ahead of Team Sky's Chris Froome on the overall podium. At the end of the stage, Dumoulin claimed that Roglič had been aided by the presence of a motorbike on the final descent. "He was flying downhill," said Dumoulin, "and eventually I got dropped on a straight part just because he was on his tube and full in the slipstream of the motorbike. "I was sprinting to his wheel and I couldn't get any closer. I just got dropped on the only straight part of the downhill. It's ridiculous really." Pacing by motorbikes is a contentious issue within cycling, with Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) claiming earlier in the race that the peloton chasing him had been the beneficiaries of a motorbike, which had helped the main bunch bring him back after an attack on Stage 15. Motorbikes aren't controlled by any partisan interests, normally they are driven by Tour de France staff and are ferrying photographers and TV cameras and so rarely attract time penalties for drafting. Many riders take the opportunity to draft motorbikes if they are there, many consider it the responsibility of the motorbike to not be in a position that can be taken advantage of. Drafting off team cars is a different matter, a rule that Dumoulin himself fell foul of in Stage 6, where he was penalised 20 seconds for sitting behind his team car. With the stage win, Roglič moved up to third overall, ahead of Chris Froome (Team Sky) and potentially within striking distance of Dumoulin in second if the big Dutchman has a bad day. "I am super disappointed," said Dumoulin. "It doesn't make sense. That bike should have been behind us." Race leader Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) was a bit more diplomatic than Dumoulin. "The way he did get the gap was a little surprising," said Thomas. "I was concentrating on the corners, following Tom's (Dumoulin's) wheel. There has been an issue with motorbikes getting too close, but I didn't see it." "Roglic was better, that is not up for discussion. He couldn't do anything about it, he was the strongest and claimed a nice victory." Roglič himself wasn't forthcoming on the issue, with the former ski-jumper neither confirming nor denying the influence of a motorbike. "What can I say? I can't comment on things on which I don't have influence over," said Roglič . "I don't see where the problem is."<doc-sep>T om Dumoulin remains the one realistic threat to Geraint Thomas’s bid to wear the yellow jersey in Paris and has experience of Grand Tour success, having won last year’s Giro d’Italia. But the Dutchman ended an agonising 46 seconds behind Chris Froome in his Giro defence, bidding to go one better at the Tour de France only to — for now at least — be outdone by another Team Sky rider. For Thomas and the Tour in 2018, read Dumoulin and the Giro in 2017, a race he entered but never truly believed he could win it. Looking back, Dumoulin said: “I didn’t even dare to dream about winning a Grand Tour. "I always thought my climbing ability wasn’t good enough to compete with the best but I surprised myself by climbing so well during those three weeks. "I’ve learned to push myself even harder than I thought I ever could.” Today’s stage gives the climbers one last chance to show their worth, but Thomas, with the support of his Sky team, has so far proved rock solid.<doc-sep>
Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) worries about beating his rivals Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome, but says that the Sky duo may turn on themselves based on stage 14 in Mende. The Dutchman, winner of the 2017 Giro d'Italia, sits third overall behind yellow jersey Thomas and Froome in second place. However, he had a laugh to himself today when Primož Roglič (LottoNL-Jumbo), fourth overall, attacked. It created some tense and telling moments on the short three-kilometre climb to Mende's airstrip. >>> How Team Sky’s Tour de France leadership strategy may backfire "It's difficult but they also are riding for their win," Dumoulin said when asked if he was facing a two against one fight with Sky's duo. "I attacked first [after Roglic was free] then Thomas was in my wheel. Froome closed the gap and attacked, and it was Thomas again who closed the gap to Froome." Sky has not had such a strong leading duo in the Tour de France since 2012 with Froome and eventual winner Bradley Wiggins. Froome appeared stronger than Wiggins in the climbs, but remained loyal while cracks appeared in Team Sky. "I can't speak to anyone else, I'm sure they'd be happy for either of us to win," Thomas said of Team Sky's management. "For me, I'd be happier if I won than Froomey!" The Welshman, however, promised to work for Froome if it is needed in the coming three Pyrenean stages. He said that Froome with six Grand Tour wins has more experience. Dumoulin could benefit, however, if the two really are chasing each other down as he said he saw on Saturday leading to the finish. He went back to defend his Giro title this May but could only manage second to Chris Froome. Sitting third in the Tour now, he is one of Sky's biggest threats. He is the time trial world champion and the Tour ends with such an event before the celebration stage in Paris next Sunday. "There's always hope and belief, when you stop doing that then you better not race at all," Dumoulin said of the possibility of beating Sky's grip on the race. "I think we were pretty evenly matched today, like also in the Alps actually. We will see what that means in the Pyrenees." The race's final time trial covers a relatively short 31 kilometres to Espelette. "First the Pyrenees," Dumoulin added, "and then we'll see what the damage is."