In the final kilometres of the race, the peloton was still trying to chase down the late breakaway of Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels), which held a 10-second gap.
The pace of the sprinters made it difficult for the chase to close the gap, before Laporte made the smart decision to bridge across in the final two kilometres.
"If we look further back to the peloton, we’ve got Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) and his teammate on the front of the peloton,” Renshaw said in the latest episode of The Finale.
“In second position is today’s stage winner, Christophe Laporte. Behind him, two riders from Alpecin–Deceuninck. And it looks like the rider in fourth position, well he’s dropped the wheel here.
“And this is going to be the start of how this whole thing unfolds for the sprinters in the peloton. As we exit this left-hand turn, we can see that three riders have slipped off the front of the peloton and that’s because the rider in fourth position has dropped the wheel.
“This is where Laporte makes the move. He’s jumping across to these three riders. He’s dropped the peloton and he’s now envisaging that he’s going to take this stage win solo.
“As they round the final bend, they have an uphill finish all the way to the line. Christophe Laporte is just licking his lips because he can see that he’s getting the perfect ride to a stage win.
“You can see further back that there is just nobody left to lead out the sprinters. They’re all fending for themselves and they’re all hesitating. They can see victory has now slipped away, so they all want to mop up the second and third places.”
Sprinters Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) took second and third respectively in the sprint behind.
Renshaw noted the remarkable success Team Jumbo Visma has had in the Tour thus far, holding the yellow, green and polka dot jerseys.
Laporte’s win marks another dominant performance from the team, with the French rider taking his first career Tour de France stage win.
“What an amazing stage,” Renshaw added. “It didn’t come down to a sprint, but when it finishes like that, I’m super happy that lead-out men and strong riders like Christophe Laporte can win stages in the Tour de France.”
The Tour de France continues tonight with Stage 20, a 40.7-kilometre time trial into Rocamadour. Watch from 8:55pm (AEST) on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker, with the SBS and SBS On Demand broadcast starting from 9:30pm (AEST).
