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A Virtual Tie TdF23-96
Alas, all of the work Neilson Powless EF Education-EasyPost) has been doing to claim the Maillot a Pois and holding it longer than any American has ever done in the Tour meant he was unable to stay with the leaders on the next climb of the day. So when Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) went over the top of the next climb, the Col de Aravis, his sprint went unchallenged. It was cleared that Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) didn't have much interest in the King of the Mountains competition as he went over in second place. More surprising was the Powless' teammate Rigoberto Uran didn't try to get the maximum points thus depriving the maximum points going to Ciccone. Without doing that, Ciccone moved into a virtual tie with the American on the American team. Since Ciccone had bested Powless on the two climbs thus far, he now had the virtual lead on the road. It seemed unlikely that he would need to worry about the erstwhile wearer of the coveted Maillot a Pois. In the distance you can just make out another of the American's in the race. That is Lawson Craddock (Jayco-Alula) riding on the Australian team.