🎥 Ciccone and Buitrago argue: "We saw what you did, this isn't right"

With Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Remco Evenepoel seemingly locking down the Tour de France podium, the fight for places behind them remains open. There could still be some major changes between riders in the GC. The mountain stage on Saturday near Nice is crucial for climbers, sparking a dispute between Santiago Buitrago and Giulio Ciccone on Friday.

The battle for fourth place seemed set between Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS), Joao Almeida (UAE), and Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), but Rodriguez lost significant time to his rivals on Friday. "It went well, but not as expected. My rivals seem stronger because I gave it my all," he said.

"There was nothing more I could do, so I have to be satisfied. There are still two tough days left and the Tour isn't over, so I'll keep giving my all," stated the Spaniard, now two minutes behind fifth-place Landa. Landa, in turn, is 27 seconds behind Almeida. "I'd like to challenge for fourth place, but only if Remco Evenepoel doesn't need me. We can race aggressively since Remco might still take second place from Jonas Vingegaard," he told Eurosport.

Battle for spot in top ten promises to be fierce

Adam Yates is currently seventh, but the battle for eighth to eleventh place is fierce. Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R) was in contention but had to drop back on the Bonette on Friday. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) moved up in the GC through a breakaway and is now ninth.

This positions Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) just outside the top ten, with Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) ten seconds ahead of the Colombian. Following the stage, Australian TV cameras captured a heated exchange between the two. "Hey, we were three men behind you. We saw everything, with your water bottle. This isn't right, this is the Tour de France," Ciccone accused, hinting at a sticky bottle from his rival.

Buitrago coolly responded, "I learned that from you," as the argument continued. The stage on Saturday is set to be intense, as both riders are eager to secure their first top ten finish in the Tour de France.

Derek Gee, currently eighth, acknowledges that the margins are slim. His lead over Jorgenson and tenth-place Ciccone is less than a minute. "I'm happy with my performance and being in the top ten, but right after crossing the finish line, I was already thinking about Saturday."

"That will be another tough one, but I could hold on longer than expected on Isola 2000. We did a high-altitude training camp here before the Tour, so I knew exactly how far I could push on that final climb. The legs felt good," Gee shared.

Gall lost twelve minutes. "Of course, I'm disappointed because this is a stage where I usually should be gaining time. I haven't felt great the past few days, but I experienced this last year too. It's frustrating to fight for your place for two and a half weeks and then feel this bad, but it's part of the sport. I have to accept it."