Greig Leach

Now that the race was going again, it was going hard up the first Cat 1 climb of the day, the Col du Cou. The sprint for maximum points at the top was started by Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step). He drew out first Nielson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) and then Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek). As they sprinted to the line, Alaphilippe realized he didn't have the legs and swung off to his left. Unfortunately for Powless, he had to go around the long way to avoid crashing with the Frenchman. That also opened up the inside line (the shortest way to the summit) for Ciccone. He Italian was able to grap the maximum points. Taking second on the climb came back to haunt the American. Spoiler Alert. The two less points and what happened later in the stage, meant that he would lose his Maillot a Pois. He will be still wearing it tomorrow however, since the new King of the Mountains is also the leader of the Tour de France.