Greig Leach

With a small group out front of the peloton, it is common for them to not want to catch the break away too soon. The break away knows this. So it becomes a bit of a cat and mouse came with break slowing up to bring the peloton to them, knowing they don't want to catch them. Once the peloton slows, the break goes hard again. "Why doesn't the peloton want to catch them?" I hear you ask. If those up the road are caught too soon, another more rested group will go off the front again making them much harder to chase down. Naturally, Greg Van Avermaet (Ag2r-Citroen) knew all of this and was doing a great job of playing along. He had Roger Kluge (Lotto Soudal) joining him in the effort. Three days earlier Lotto Soudal had lost their marquee sprinter Caleb Ewan in one of the many crashes plaquing this years Tour. That made him willing to work in hopes of getting a stage win for his team. Behind the peloton was keeping them in sight with eight kilometers left to race. When the peloton deemed it was time to catch them, you can be sure they did.