Lone foray cost Slock, says breakaway Tour de France partner

Liam Slock blew his chances of a Tour de France stage victory after 175km in a breakaway when he took off on his own,  fellow escapee Thibault Guernalec said on Saturday.

The pair set off in the day's breakaway three kilometres into the 180km stage from Perigueux to Bergerac in the Dordogne region alongside Czech Jakub Otruba.

Otruba accelerated on the 2.2km Cote du Buisson-de-Cadouin with just over 40km left, leading to Slock counter-attacking. The Belgian then set off alone in search of the victory.

"I think as three we were stronger than alone, even though, to be honest, he was incredible," Guernalec complained.

"Hats off to him, but as a trio we could have combined forces -- he could have won given how strong he was in the sprint.

"But there you go, I'm disappointed to have missed out on an opportunity. It's a bit annoying."

What irked Guernalec most was that the prize for reaching the summit of that hill first was only a single King of the Mountains point -- a competition in which none of the three are likely to figure prominently.

"I would have preferred us to finish together, with the sole aim of going all the way," he said.

"That's how I see things, that's why I go in breakaways.

"I didn't understand, but I'm sure they've got their reasons."

Slock surged past Otruba on the climb and then forged on alone with 40km left to ride.

But the sprinters' teams were determined not to let an opportunity slip and Slock was caught with 1.3km left.

bc/pb 

© Agence France-Presse