The third stage of the Tour de l’Avenir has been for Jordan Labrosse, 20 years old, the one of all happinesses, except one… First of all, the young rider of the regional selection Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes has felt the frustration of having been close to a resounding stage victory at the highest international level.
He had to lose the stage victory behind Dane Adam Holm Jörgensen at the top of the beautiful finish hill in La Trimouille (Vienne) at the end of a breakaway that started with 25 kilometres to go (with also the Czech rider Kelemen who escaped from the first break of the day). The trio, who had managed to get some air, had the merit to resist in extremis to the return of the peloton.
But the gap to the line was still small enough (4 seconds) to offer Jordan Labrosse a surprise that he hadn’t thought about… And much better than a consolation! Since the winner of the day, Jörgensen, had conceded more than two minutes the day before, Jordan Labrosse took the yellow jersey, as well as the polka dot jersey for the best climber and the white one for the best young rider. “The most beautiful day of my life”, he said on the podium.
Jordan Labrosse, a member of the training centre of Chambéry, has some offensive qualities and has changed his plan from “seizing the opportunities” to try to win a stage, but he will now try to make the pleasure last even if he agrees that it will be “difficult”.
The three breakaways had given themselves a margin of about fifty seconds at the most on a peloton that was sometimes animated by strong jolts but that also suffered some moments of slackness that benefited to the attackers who didn’t spare any effort. With only 10 seconds of advantage at the foot of the finish ramp (900 meters at 3%), their chances seemed to be small, but they still had the resources to keep the benefit of their efforts, with Dane Jörgensen finding the reward for his strong commitment.
The flat section continued with a slightly hilly stage 4 between Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre and Chaillac, 142,8 km long through the department of Indre.
