Christophe Laporte delivers first home win on stage 19 of Tour de France

LONG AWAITED: Christophe Laporte delivered the first French victory of this Tour de France on stage 19. Pic: Daniel Cole/AP

Christophe Laporte delivered an overdue French win on the 109th Tour de France as Fred Wright was the nearly man once again and the sprinters were left to wonder what race organisers have against them.

Stage 19 was circled as one for the fast men, starved of opportunities since the race left Denmark almost three weeks ago, but the flat appearance of the profile did not tell the true story of an undulating 188km route from Castelnau-Magnoac to Cahors, even though threatened crosswinds stayed away.