The Tour takes on a new dimension today as it goes into the Pyrenees for the first summit finish. Can Tadej Pogačar deliver the big blow to Jonas Vingegaard or can Visma-LAB undo UAE and strike back?
Ici si tu cognes tu gagnes: move over Penn and Teller, David Copperfield and other illusionists because Thierry Gouvenou is stealing your thunder. Fans expecting a sprint stage were fooled by the optical illusion of what looked like a flat stage but instead turned out to be the most dynamic races of the season so far. Loyal readers here knew more was on the cards, but surely nobody predicted what was going happen?
Stage 11 was a day of anarchy with not a quiet moment from start to finish. Davide Ballerini, Jonas Abrahamsen and Mauro Schmid as the flag dropped and the latter two would stay out all day. This scenario looked improbable throughout the stage, in the first hour the race covered 51km and yet the trio wasn’t cooked as they fought to stay away.
Teams battled fire riders forward. At one point some tried to sit up and ease off but Mathieu Burgaudeau and Fred Wright shot out of the peloton and made it across to form a quintet in the lead and behind the wasps’ nest kept being poked. All the time more moves raged as teams fired riders off the front, refusing to give up. At this rate Stage 17 to Valence might not be a sprint stage either.
A quality counter-attack of Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, Quinn Simmons, Arnaud De Lie and Axel Laurance formed. They had the other five in sight for much of the final 40km but couldn’t close the final metres, for a long time they were just twenty seconds away. Each probably trying to hold something back and relying on the other for that extra pull. The hypothesis was proven when Van Aert tried an attack then Quinn Simmons made his move to demonstrate they had some energy to spare. The American’s move on the penultimate climb seemed to prompt Abrahamsen and Schmid to move, accelerating to keep the chaser away.
Van der Poel set off in pursuit… of the win on the final climb of Pech David amid a roaring crowd, this small road that functions as a gymnasium for local cyclists was turned into the city’s liveliest stadium. Van der Poel later said he did not realise there were still two riders up ahead, a surprise given for how long his group had the leaders in sight at times. But his pursuit prompted the lead pair not play games.
The boulevards of Toulouse took on a different allure, Compans-Caffarelli became the Serengeti with Van der Poel as a mean lion pursuing two exhausted antelopes. Only this time there was no meal, the two bucks were safe with two hundred metres to spare.
It had been such a good race until this point that as the two stood on the pedals to sprint a prayer was made to wish for a clean finish, and answered as the two riders went side by side. The suspense lasted beyond the finish line as Schmid and Abrahamsen were seemed level on the line and it took a moment to review and declare that the Norwegian won.
It’s a fairy tale for Abrahamsen who crashed out of the Tour of Belgium less four weeks ago with a broken collarbone, and for his team, wildcard invitees.
The one loser of the day was Tadej Pogačar, Jhonatan Narvaez for company on the final climb with Adam Yates close but behind, then he crashed on the entrance to Toulouse. He was up quickly and the peloton waited for him – the subject of a post-stage polemic but the group was hardly racing to the line and there were only big boulevards left – but he will be sore today, landing first on his hips then before his shoulder slammed into the kerb. There are often side effects beyond this with inflammation, bruising, disturbed cortisol levels and lost sleep. Not ideal going into three mountain stages.
Otherwise it was an exceptional day’s racing, it could only have been bettered if the GC riders had traded more attacks on the final climbs. If the Tour wants to come back to Toulouse, the only objection to having an identical route again would be that it might not be quite as good.
The Route: 180km and 3,850m of vertical gain. The Tour de France returns to Auch for the first time since 1977. That’s a lifetime, or more for Nicolas Portal who never got to see the Tour here. He died in 2020 and there will be a tribute to him today.
It’s out of Auch on the route nationale for over 40km, a big wide road that rises and falls. After Rabastens the route turns onto smaller roads but stays flat.
The first climb of the day puts the race on the route to the Col du Soulor, the marked climb out of Labatmale and the unmarked 7% kicker to Arthez d’Asson have been regulars over the year.
The road gets more and more narrow towards Ferrières and then the Col du Soulor begins. The climb is 12km at 7% and there are no traps or hidden surprises, just a steady slope up which varies between 6-9% but without any abrupt changes as it climbs up the small road through woodland and then onto open pastures.
The descent of the Soulor is different, a detour to take the Col des Bordères, a backroad climb with some 8-9% slopes and a proper climb rather than a pause along the descent. The road picks up the main road off the Soulor down to Argelès.
The Finish: a brief crossing of the valley floor and then the climb of Hautacam begins. Gently at first to the official start point of the climb. This is a ski station road that’s wide but not an easy drive up. The second half has some steep parts, it is like a staircase in places when the slope tips up to 10-12%, even 15% in places and there’s also a descent that doesn’t show up on the profile. In short it’s an irregular climb with several changes in pace.
The Contenders: on paper Tadej Pogačar (UAE) is the obvious pick, he’s got two stages already. But how sore is he after yesterday’s fall? And his team seem to be falling ill around him too but Pavel Sivakov says he’s better for a stage on home roads. There’s no red alert but all the same some concerns and we’ll see what he and the team can do today.
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-LAB) for the upset, after days of tracking Pogačar we’ll see what he and his team can do here.
It’s hard to see other GC contenders contesting the win, the likes of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull) would surely sign for second place today if a genie appeared before breakfast offering this.
The breakaway has a chance but last year it was rare for the move to stick and win. Still Bahrain pair Santiago Buitrago and Lenny Martinez sat up to save themselves, likewise Harald Tejada (XDS-Astana) and Michael Storer (Tudor).
 |
– |
 |
Pogačar, Vingegaard |
 |
Storer, Skjelmose, Buitrago, O’Connor, Arensman |
Weather: sunny and 30°C.
TV: KM0 is at 1.25pm the finish is forecast for 5.45pm CEST. Tune in for the start to watch the fight for the breakaway. The start of the Soulor is around 4.15pm.
Postcard from Lourdes
Lourdes can look like an appealing base if you plan to visit the Pyrenees to ride the nearby mountain passes like the Soulour, Aubisque, Tourmalet and the Col de Tramassel, the other name for Hautacam.
You won’t be short of places to stay, it’s reputed to have more hotel beds than residents. But this is where the problems come, it’s a town for religious pilgrims and if that sounds sincere, to visit is to see the sacred and the profane alike. Emile Zola wrote it better:
And there was also jewellery: rings, brooches and bracelets, loaded with stars and crosses, and ornamented with saintly figures. Finally there was the Paris article, which rose above and submerged all the rest: pencil-holders, purses, cigar-holders, paper-weights, paper-knives, even snuff-boxes; and innumerable other objects on which the Basilica, Grotto, and Blessed Virgin ever appeared, reproduced in every way, by every process that is known.
Heaped together pell-mell in one of the cases reserved to articles at fifty centimes apiece were napkin-rings, egg-cups, and wooden pipes, on which was carved the beaming apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Little by little, M. de Guersaint, with the annoyance of a man who prides himself on being an artist, became disgusted and quite sad. ‘But all this is frightful, frightful!’ he repeated at every new article he picked up to look at.
– Les Trois Villes – Lourdes, 1894 (translated)
You can go to see it for yourself and anywhere in the Pyrenees can better than somewhere else… but Bagnères-de-Bigorre and Luchon are alternatives.
Stage 11 was like watching a juniors race at times – TV coverage had an Astana radio message of “no rules, no rules!”, everyman for himself it seemed. Funny to watch, but team DS’s must have dreamt of a quiet sprint stage.
Stage 12 and the mind games are over as things get serious. How are team UAE & Pogacar? Yates and Narvaez could be in for a hard day in the heat.Visma won’t have it easy but at least they have a full team. Big question is how will Remco do? If he slips and slides then other young contenders could fill his spot on GC. No more flat TT’s left in the Tour so it’s a matter of hanging on for Remco all the way to Paris.
Will Red Bull/Bora finally show themselves?
There are also questions for Vauquelin and Onley. Will they slip back in the high mountains?
Hautacam: this reader can’t see the name without the image of a smug-looking Mr 60% dancing before his eyes.
Onley is interesting. Last year he seemed to be in the break every other day, so it was difficult to judge his performance. This year he was very good in the high mountains on Swiss I’m still backing him for the podium!
Pardon my ignorance, who is Mr 60%?
Bjarne Riis
…in response to riding right at the allowable hematocrit level.
He wasn’t exactly a spring chicken either, somehow suddenly transforming himself from someone who might grab a stage between the Alps and the Pyrenees when the GC was looking at each other into the Monster of the 96 TdF.
Adding in Jordan Jegat alongside Vauquelin and Onley on that watch-list. He’s ridden superbly so far. His style might lend itself more to the Alpine climbs than to the Pyrenees but he coped well in both last year.
Unless my eyes deceived me I think that Pogacar was able to get a foot on the ground to take some sting out of the fall. We will soon see I guess.
It seems to me that the back of the bunch has become the danger zone these days.
@Cadence It looked more like a sideways movement to break the slide into the small barriers than a downward one to me. We may well see today what the impact was because Visma are no doubt going to test him.
I hit send to soon. What was Pog doing back there anyway?
I replayed it a couple of times and he definitely got his foot onto the ground but then it went out from under him and he more or less landed on his backside. So he broke his fall just a little.
Your question about what was he doing back there is a good one. Only moments before he was comfortably close to the front of the bunch. There is another post suggesting that he was on the radio.
The wonderful thing about the first big mountain stage is that we really don’t know how anyone will respond. Especially considering that Pog has had a strange week of micro-aggressions, all topped off with a rare trip to the floor, it’s especially hard to guess. I still expect him to win, but there are bound to be surprises, there always are. Can’t wait to see who among the possible podium contenders strengthens their position, and who capitulates.
Although, interestingly, he crashed in Strade Bianche (but still won) and crashed in Paris-Roubaix (and was still second). Three crashes in one season is three more than I remember him having (but I’m sure he must’ve).
Fair to say he’s not Roglic but, even so.
It always felt to me that the next day after a crash is not as bad as the second day after. This may come into play for the uphill TT.
That’s often the case. Former team manager Cyrille Guimard has a bank of phrases and one of them is “there’s never a harmless crash” and it’s often followed by “it’s not the day after, but the day after that when you can pay”.
Didn’t Geraint Thomas once crash in a GT, do a pretty good TT the next day only to abandon the day after? Can’t remember which, although the Giro rings a bell in a muted way.
Could be 2017 Giro where he crashed stage 9 in the notorious police Moto incident , came second to Dumoulin on stage 10 TT but then suffered a lot and was DNS stage 13
@Sameul – yes, that’s the one.
It looks like a stage where Visma, who appear to have more in-form climbing depth than UAE, will want potential support for Vingegaard in the breakaway. Does that mean it’s Sepp’s turn?
It might need more than one rider, for Kuss to move he needs someone like Campenaerts to get him across on the flat roads. It seems more likely that Visma will make a move like this, could be Yates too, while UAE will probably try to stay around Pogačar.
Unlike on stages 18 and 19, there is no real valley section on this stage before the final climb. The Hautacam climb starts almost as soon as the previous descent ends. I don’t think a satellite rider will be that useful on the final climb itself. But I guess we will see.
What a day it must have been out front. Never more than 1,5 minutes ahead, often under 30 seconds, and constant attacking from behind. And suddenly you have MvdP, WvA and Simmons chasing you…. And almost ironically, the first man to attack won in the end.
That was bonkers, there is a thought that the front group got some inadvertent help from the motos etc at the front whilst the second group did not get such assistance, this could well have made the difference between MvdP winning or not. It was a perfect example of why the riders make the race not the course designers. Run that route again and it could well end up as “dull & boring”. There were no teams with an interest in controlling the break, UAE were resting, the sprint teams (such as there are) were not interested, EF didnt care who went in the break, Alpecin were playing games to try to set up MvdP etc. As a result it was a free for all, any rider who fancied a go could try but was then chased down by all the others who thought the same. This went on until pretty much the whole bunch was knackered. There was even attacks when Tadej Pogacar stopped for a “nature break” (stupid expression!).
The most consequential thing could well be Tadej Pogacar crash, not just for today but the TT tomorrow. I know Visma never planned to cause a crash but the pressure applied has caused lots of stress, Tadej Pogacar was on the radio, one hand off the bars, rider cuts in front, he cant react quickly enough, crash. Cue lots of polemic about should they have waited or not.
As to today, its clear what the Visma plan will be, WvA or Victor Campenaerts in the break (both would be ideal), high pace up the Cat 1 to drop as many UAE riders as possible, ideally they would be all gone at the top, maybe even an attack on the descent but also on the Cat 2. Satellite rider for the short valley section / start of the climb then its mano a mano on the last climb. Key thing will be the after effects of the crash, it only takes a few percent reduction in Tadej Pogacar’s performance for Jonas Vingegaard to ride away.
Interested to see how Oscar Onley goes, somewhat of a step into the unknown.
It does only take a small performance dip but Vinny needs to do more than ride away. He’s got to take a decent chunk of time if he gaps Pog and then aim to repeat it tomorrow. I don’t see him getting that many shots at taking time.
If (big if) Tadej Pogacar has been affected by the crash then it is easy to see Jonas Vingegaard taking say 2 minutes or even more today and tomorrow. That would leave a interesting race as Tadej Pogacar would have to attack to try to take the time back, perfect set up to the third week. Might even go to Paris.
Moto help for the front of the race is a known thing. It happens with other groups on the road too from time to time but more so with the front if only for the banal fact that there is always a front of the race and not always any chasing groups. Riders and teams complain about it and take advantage of it according to circumstance and there is a definite sense of race falsification abroad, at least to some extent.
It’s unlikely, most of the time, to be deliberate in the sense of the moto wanting to see the front riders win rather than anybody else but it doesn’t seem to be quite inadvertent either as it happens so often, across races, across countries. Perhaps see it as an unfortunate by-product of the higher priorities of a TV director – yes, it’s a deliberate policy to show the front of the race from the front frequently but for reasons of perceived ‘makes good television’ rather than anything else.
All part of that tricky and eternal triangle of pro cycling between the needs of the riders, those of their sponsors, and the media on whom both depend for publicity and the show.
On that hoary old chestnut of ‘the riders make the race’ the anglophone translation of the original French emphasises a false opposition. It’s not a case of either the riders or the course who make the race; it’s both in combination. The riders dispose, sure, but largely within the constraints that Gouvenou proposes. They need each other to achieve the best possible race.
When MvP and Rickaert wher on the front until 8oom to go the other day, nobody talked about the moto help they got, like everyone in that position. So it’s only a thing if the break wins or it depends who’s chasing?
It’s a known thing. But yes, when and whether it gets talked about in any given situation is another thing.
You seem to get front on shots of every group though?! Or are the ones of the breakaway done from a tractor or something?!
Near to Auch is a village of Fleurance. Something that I have always wondered about was why in the 1970’s and 80’s this small place received so many Tour stage starts/finishes and even in 1977 and 1979 hosted the opening stage!
Any reason why?
Local paper Sud-Ouest has the answer, a mayor Maurice Mességué with a business streak where the town seemed to win from the popularity and Mességué was into herbal remedies but also president of the chamber of commerce locally and could get businesses to pay up https://www.sudouest.fr/economie/tourisme/tour-de-france-inoubliable-fleurance-9351836.php
Lourdes isn’t the only option to stay in that area. Argeles, Pierrefitte and Luz S-S are well equipped and positioned for a week climbing cols.
I once rode one day on a rented bike from Luz-St-Sauveur, up the obligatory Tourmalet and then, as recommended by the shop owner, the dead end climb of Cirque du Troumouse. The latter was hard, beautiful and very quiet compared to the other roads, a true gem. Glad I listended to the shop owner instead of riding Luz Ardiden or another climb! Highly recommended.
Luz St Saveur is a great base for cycling. Our family camped there in 2023 and I did early morning rides including Tourmalet, Luz Ardiden and Hautacam arriving back with a baguette before the kids were even awake. Then the rest of the day by the pool or on days out. Good memories.
If (when) we return, I would prioritise the Col des Tentes – beautiful road and climb but a dead end with a small car park at the top – too small for the Tour I would imagine. You can even walk on a mountain path to the Spanish border from the car park – the kids loved that !
I agree about the Col des Tentes. That was just about my best day ever on a bike.
I was lucky enough to spend some of my youth a few valleys away in St Lary and have wonderful memories. Thanks for the heads up about Luz St Saveur and Col des Tentes, I hope to one day return to the area and will certainly check it out.
Some great rides there and the Tour has looked at Gavarnie but so far it hasn’t happened.
Troumouse is indeed a gem, though it goes on forever! The Cirque provides a breathtaking view at the top though. Luz Ardiden is really great – it too is a pretty quiet road in summer as it’s basically a dead end at a (dormant) ski resort. More haripins than Alpe d’Huez.
I prefer using Argeles-Gazost area as a base of operations as you have Hautacam across the valley, Soulor-Aubisque at your back door, as well as Spandelles and Lac d’Estaing.
Pogacar has had, by his standards, a fairly tough week. He has seemed more annoyed than usual and obviously hit the deck yesterday. I think today he will be motivated to lay down the law. Not that I want to compare the two particularly, but it always felt like Armstrong landed a knockout blownthe day after it seemed like something had gone wrong for him.
Pogacar seems fine after his crash, but it always takes a bit out of a rider. I had him winning this stage, just having a bit too much for Vingegaard, by 15-20 second gap. Now I’m not so sure, could be a complete reverse. Big days ahead.
Previously I thought it would be very close between Pogacar & Vingegaard on Hautacam. Now with Pogacar’s crash I’m expecting Vingegarrd & Visma to do their best to make mincemeat of him & to probably succeed.
I am very relieved that I was completely wrong!
On the “Are there Rules” front, it was a day of extreme contrasts. On the one hand, you had the Astana Team Director saying no rules when FDJ (I think it was) attacked during a wide-spread peloton nature break. Enter chaos. OTOH, Pogs crashes, and VG and Healy sportingly team up to wait for Pogs. Enter order. So, in the end some manner of cosmic order re-established itself. Love this about cycling!
Funny how you avoid polemics, from choosing a picture of the finish that hides the intruding protestor and his/her tackler, to not analysing who caused Pogačar’s crash (and how).
I don’t think there is any polemic. Waiting for someone who has crashed is nothing new. The yellow jersey called it off not wanting to take advantage of someone else’s misfortune. Seems fair enough to me.
I thought the protestor could have chosen a better venue than a rugby town like Toulouse. It was a textbook tackle from the security guy.
It was Stéphane Boury who is the manager of the finish zone, he’s in charge of the finish arch, the parking, barriers etc… and has done this before. After two riders in red and black sprinted for the win it was all appropriate for Toulouse.
I mentioned the crash above, but because was just an accident it wasn’t worth dwelling on, any injuries or pain are possibly the main result rather than trying to allocate blame.
There were several protests yesterday too, farmers and also medical workers and their union at the top of the Pech David climb. Was struck reading another account how the crash and the finish line protester were the top lines of the day when instead it was one of the best day’s racing of the year but it depends on the audience, don’t need drama and disaster to hook readers in here.
Sorry, but “just an accident” is debatable. Not to join the Johannesen haters choir, but if you do the same move he did 3km later in a bunch sprint, it will be looked into by the jury and you most probably will be relegated and or fined. Coming from one side of a rider, knowing hes there and cut his line 2 seconds later is a dangerous move, in my opinion
An accident caused by one rider´s dangerous move is still just an accident.
PS A yellow card wouldn´t have been completely uncalled for, but I dare not say that one should have been given.
It’s a fair point to ask why such a move, and others nothing like as marked, should incur much wrath when done in a bunch sprint yet be so easily dismissed by so many in other race situations. Neither the danger nor the obstruction caused are necessarily any less and surely can be more.
It was a wave, a bit of a dumb move but not a deliberate attempt to go after a gap; plus in a sprint Pogačar would have both hands on the bars.
@inrng It was a deliberate attempt to follow or dive for someone’s wheel which has been penalised in some sprints this year if it interferes with another rider. If someone has both hands on the bars in a sprint, why doesn’t that make that situation that much more safe, less dangerous than this one and as such less of an infringement of the rules?
Because it was just a clumsy move here. I don’t see the fuss?
@inrng You could put many moves in sprints into a box marked ‘clumsy move’. Plenty of those are being penalised currently yet could easily be categorised as ‘just an accident’ like this one. Looked at from a sprinter’s point of view, the fuss may be that they are getting penalised for things which in other circumstances are seen as ‘just’ racing incidents, ‘just’ accidents, ‘just’ clumsy moves.
Pogačar said it was a non-incident too.
To dwell so detailed into racing incidents is a rabbit hole.
Rubbin’ is racing as they say.
I posit the “union meeting” was a greater threat to the race.
Flip the view. If this is a non-incident [and, for what it’s worth, if I were on the jury in this race I would not be looking to sanction THJ for it] why are we currently seeing so many penalties in sprints for sometimes much less of a clumsy move or an accident or a racing incident or however else these things can be and are described? Because rubbing is racing, right?
Sprints are more regulated, there are rules about changing lane that don’t apply to riding mid-stage etc.
The news platforms covered both events already if you are interested. The stage was super exciting, beyond expectations, so one could understand why our host is focusing on it in this review.
Skjelmose lost time again yesterday. I don’t see him as a contender for this stage.
Only if he’s losing team to have room to attack and salvage something now his GC bid has slipped away. It’s quite common to see riders planning an attack the next day to try and make the finish of the stage as easy as possible.
That’s definitely a possibility, but it would surprise me. Time will tell.
Top race from Skjelmose, I did not expect to see him in the front today. Kudos.
Maybe not today but tomorrow TP will a minute or 2 to JV. I hope I am wrong.
My initial reaction of that crash was how he came down hard on one side like Beloki. Amazing that he sprang back up so quickly.
Hopefully, the fact he got to his feet so quickly, means he isn’t injured. And that the crash will not affect him much in the next few days.
I think he’s ok
Oh no. Oh no no no. Damn…
The vultures are massing with 6kms to go. Visma will get much criticism but Pogi looks so superior, has looked so superior for a season or two, that you have to wonder whether any strategy or tactic would have closed the gap for Jonas and his team.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwVNuyfhF0Q
The tactics appeared particularly dumb (perhaps because the directors couldn’t have expected the whole team to be on a bad day) but they could have executed the perfect strategy and it wouldn’t have worked. Vinny didn’t have the legs. Full stop.
Indeed.
As David Millar said at one point on ITV4 the fact that Lipowitz was clawing back time suggested that this was not the Vingegaard that was expected, regardless of what Pogacar was doing…
I think that’s a comment in the heat of the moment?
Vin may have had an off day but this was to form for the last two years and no surprise? Also Lipowitz is a rider constantly improving as he’s young and upcoming so today’s gap may have been exactly as per the two’s current level?
I didn’t see anything today to suggest Vin had a bad day and tbh wasn’t surprised at all by the result. Pog has Vin’s number, last years switch of trainer and renewed focus has elevated him far beyond the rest and you can see his confidence that with a 5second gap he knows riding the numbers will leave him minutes beyond Jonas.
Rather than Jonas not showing his best today, I actually think it’s more likely we didn’t see the best of Pogacar because he really wasn’t tested and had no reason to go right to the limit of his powers.
The only thing I am thinking were I Pog or his team is if anything happens to him this race or in the coming years and he fails to reach the fabled five TDFs he’ll only have himself to blame for losing to Vingegaard when he really should have beaten him.
For Jonas the more Pog gilds his Palmares the more special being the only rider to beat him at his peak will become.
Vingo probably flew too close to the sun (and into the red) when initially trying to follow Pogacar, when nobody else did. Hence his elevated levels of suffering towards the end. Pogacar is playing a different game these days.
oldDAVE:
I didn’t mean to suggest that Millar was implying that Vingegaard was having a bad day. He was saying his form is not where “we” all thought it would be, or so that was my interpretation in the context of his other commentary.
The normally subdued Millar, who is not really prone to hyperbole, also said “Pogacar wants to crush [or maybe it was ‘destroy’] Vingegaard.” It was one of those moments where you appreciate his understated commentary–he’s no Rob Hatch, for example, for whom every stage is one of the most remarkable days of racing in the history of the sport–as the contrast to his normal way of speaking made the remark even more forceful.
I agree re: Pogacar having not shown his true strength prior to today (except maybe in the ITT?)…especially when he said post-race that they’d been targetting the stage for quite a while…
oh sorry cp – I should have emphasised Millar may well be right and certainly knows more than me! I just thought it was harder to tell if it was a bad day for Jonas or not.
Apologies if I sounded too much on my high horse! I enjoyed being made to consider the question of whether it was a Vin jour sans or not.
Whoah.
Pogacar is on a different planet this year… really, there’s nothing anyone else could have done today. 3 months ago he was winning cobbled monuments, now he is bossing the TdF.
Maybe I need an attitude adjustment, but I don’t feel like watching pro cycling anymore. It doesn’t seem competitive. Except for two races, Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix, Tadej wins any race he wants. And if he’s not racing, I know I’m not watching the best of the sport, and my appreciation is diminished. I’m not criticizing or questioning Tadej. I’m just saying I have never been less excited about watching the next race, whatever it is. I would appreciate some help with this!
The Giro was great! I think we’re going to have to accept that the Tour isn’t going to be a great race for another few years.
To be honest you probably should’ve stopped watching cycling a long time ago!!
This is pretty much how it always is – Indurain, Armstrong, Froome, Pogacar…
It’s more rare to have a competitive Tour than it is to have a walkover.
There have been as many competitive races this year as always.
Even in the classics – there were many years where you’d expect either Cancellara or Boonen to win or one of their teammates simply because they marked out the race – and before that Mapei crushed opposition for many years as did others previously.
There is absolutely nothing new about domination within cycling.
The truth is with Pogacar there are far more positives than negatives:
– a renewed interest in GC riders trying classics.
– a thoroughly nice guy as opposed to a few years of nastiness.
– an entire generation willing to throw themselves into carefree attacks rather than hold back.
– a rivalry in the classics that’s amongst the greatest we’ve ever seen.
– a rivalry in stages races (until this year) that’s also amongst the greats.
I really think anyone suffering under the boot of Pogacar’s era needs to reappraise and look for the positives as there are many even if the Tour might be a lock off for the coming years. My personal opinion if people are looking for someone/where to blame is blame as poorly managed sport not Pogacar, and on that I will wholeheartedly agree.
And is often the case, when one rider shows they have better form, rather than trying to attack the rest often then jostle for the lower places which increase the lead of the man on top. It happens.
Liked seeing so many in the top 10 of the white jersey being in the top ten of this stage. That hopefully bodes well for many cycling races to come (and not just the TDF).
It appeared most of JV had a jour sans, alas. Pogi mad, Pogi smash.
Dear @oldDAVE, this is exactly what I was looking for. I’m saving this list in my head and heart. Thank you!
– a renewed interest in GC riders trying classics.
– a thoroughly nice guy as opposed to a few years of nastiness.
– an entire generation willing to throw themselves into carefree attacks rather than hold back.
– a rivalry in the classics that’s amongst the greatest we’ve ever seen.
– a rivalry in stages races (until this year) that’s also amongst the greats.
ha thanks Albert!
I had a long debate after with a friend whether it’s unusual for the Tour to:
a) be over midway
b) be over by the third week.
my argument on both was no, neither are usual whatsoever – but also it’s quite hard to say if this tour was over midway as today was stage12! It’s just whether we come to say this TDF *(barring surprises or accidents later in race) was over today or stage7 TT… who knows what the future will say…
Hi @oldDAVE, if I remember right, a lot of the Tours with Froome were not so competitive either?
My old nemesis, how wrong you are! I suppose you love 4-0 football matches where the oil baron-owned teams crush the local favorites too. Just because something has happened before doesn’t mean it’s good. We’re now going to watch Pogi win half of the remaining stages with his sportswashing pals, grabbing the polka dot jersey on the way. This is boring, totally lacking drama. But at least the Giro was good.
* not totally serious
I can certainly understand the sentiment here.
But I might suggest that this is especially why, for the foreseeable future, the Tour needs stages like yesterday – where it’s essentially a one-day classic and the yellow jersey group isn’t contesting the stage win.
Which is to say: even if there isn’t uncertainty about who will win Le Tour in the end, individual days of racing at Le Tour can nonetheless be thrilling.