Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre held off Eire’s Ben Healy to say his first Tour de France stage win on Tuesday in Mont Ventoux.
Paret-Peintre crossed the road simply forward of Healy in Stage 16, a mountainous 171.5-kilometer trek that started in Montpellier. Colombia’s Santiago Buitrago completed third.
Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar completed 43 seconds behind Paret-Peintre in fifth place to take care of the general race chief’s yellow jersey.
Pogacar, the three-time and defending race champion, now leads Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard by 4 minutes and 15 seconds. Germany’s Florian Lipowitz is in third, greater than 9 minutes off the tempo.
Stage 17 on Wednesday is a flat, 160.4-kilometer journey from Bollene to Valence. The 21-stage competitors finishes in Paris on Sunday.
–Area Degree Media
