After the Vosges, now the Jura and into the Alps for the Tour de France with a summit finish.
Le Bilan d’Alsace: before the start Jordan Jegat told the media he couldn’t be bothered to attack as the mood in the breakaways was not good, nobody wanted to work fully and they feared being gobbled up by UAE anyway. It’s notable to see this expressed aloud.
The stage started under a downpour but a few kilometres later there was warm sunshine for the intermediate sprint won by Jasper Philipsen ahead of Mads Pedersen in his green jersey.
The Grand Ballon saw a group of 38 go clear including Tom Pidcock, fourth overall. If he was Thomas Piedcoque of Total or Tom van Pidkoek of Alpecin then he would have found plenty of others shaking their fists and swearing at him as it meant the bunch behind had to chase but he’s a big name rider so the others struggle to voice concerns.
Valentin Paret-Peintre was first over the climb and in time a move of seven was away with team mates Ben Healy and Richard Carapaz, team mates Einer Rubio and Pablo Castrillo, and twins Tobias Halland Johannessen and Anders Halland Johannessen. With Paret-Peintre sprinting for the win atop the Ballon d’Alsace he became the virtual mountains leader but the peloton led by UAE was only 90 seconds behind and picking up the pace.
The escapees were down to Tobias Halland Johannessen, Carapaz, Paret-Peintre and Rubio at the start of the Col du Haag and by the first ramp Tobias Halland Johannessen and Carapaz were clear. Then Carapaz. He had a minute’s lead and behind Decathlon-CMA’s Tiesj Benoot and Niclolas Prodhomme set the pace as Tom Pidcock was dropped and white jersey Juan Ayuso started to dangle at the back. Sep Kuss took over the pacing.
Onto the cycle path and Florian Lipowitz accelerated and Paul Seixas followed but the move was over in a flash and perhaps more about being in a good position on the narrow road lined with dense crowds.
Jonas Vingegaard led for a long time, stoically pulling the group as Remco Evenepoel was dropped. But at the “Owl Hairpin” Pogačar attacked and put daylight between everyone. Vingegaard set off in pursuit and Paul Seixas moved too a few metres behind the Dane and the two linked up at the top of the climb with Del Toro joining them. Behind Remco Evenepoel was back with Lipowitz and Ayuso and closing the gap.
Pogačar won the stage of course but it was a finish where lots was going on behind. Del Toro finished second, mopping up the six second time bonus while Paul Seixas was third. Vingegaard came into the finish with them but lost six seconds in the sprint. Adrift earlier, Evenepoel closed in to four seconds of the Dane.
The result of all this is Seixas moves up to fourth overall, 15 seconds behind Evenepoel, three seconds ahead of Ayuso which puts him in the white jersey, the youngest ever wearer. Here’s the GC:
Vingegaard is second but the amount of work he and his team are doing seems to be proving costly, his advantage on the other podium contenders has been eroded rather than bolstered but he’ll find the summit finishes to come more suitable. It’s all bunching up with second to seventh place overall spread across 80 seconds.
Jegat’s pre-stage interview was proved right but his idea is a self-fulfilling prophecy, a strong group going clear might have been able to take more time and UAE are intimidating but not full-strength.
Another winner of the day was the “new” Col du Haag and the Vosges. This mountain range has often delivered mid-mountain stages but the Haag is a focal point now, a new option for the Tour. Also huge crowds, including many from Germany, made this a popular success too.
The Route: 184km and 3,950m of vertical gain. There’s 22km to the unmarked Col de la Savine, all on big ring roads before descending into Morbier, known for its eponymous cheese and this year as a place where the men’s Tour visits in one direction and then the women visit in the other direction next month. The climb to Les Rousses goes into the Jura mountains via a wide main road.
Then comes a long descent but most of it not steep enough to freewheel as the course cruises down towards the Rhone valley. The climb out of Bellegarde to Léaz would be categorised on many other stages but not here amid all that is to come.
After 120km it’s time to get into position. Mont Salève is listed as 4.7km long but there’s 4km of climbing before to get to the official start, gentler than what is to come but awkward as positioning counts for plenty here. From the village of Le Coin onwards the road has double-digit gradients, seemingly never below 10% but often 12-14% and with steep hairpins where it pays to lead and take the line that suits as the inside can stall some riders and the outside is too long.
A tricky descent and then the pleonasm “Côte du Mont” is really the Col le Parc but nothing too hard.
The Finish: it’s back to the Plateau de Solaison climb which has featured in the Tour de l’Avenir once, three times in the Dauphiné/Aura Tour including last June and now the the Tour de France for the first time. Why? Why not as it is a very tough climb, uncharacteristically steep for the French Alps and a solid 30 minute climb. Also the President of the Haute-Savoie department, who is behind this stage and the time trial to come, has a house in Brison.
It’s steep from the start, the flat road of the valley seems to smash into the mountain and in one bend it pitches up and stays steep but in shaded woodland. The profile above doesn’t capture the flatter recovery section heading into the village of Brison mid-way out of the village it’s steep all the way up to the top.
The Contenders: with the rest day to come, Tadej Pogačar (UAE) can use his team to go for his fifth stage win. He’s obviously stronger than the field although it’s notable he’s taking more time out of rivals on the flat than straight summit finishes. Isaac del Toro, pictured on the Solaison climb, looked better on Stage 14 but was marking rather than making moves so the team’s best bet is all on for Pogačar.
Anyone else? Paul Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM) is a local of sorts as his grandparents live nearby and these roads have been his summer playground. He knows the climb but this only helps so much. It’s hard to get a win outright and if Pogačar is in the mood to gift or relinquish wins then it’s for Del Toro.
Jonas Vinegaard (Visma-LAB) returns to the club where he half-wheeled to the win ahead of Primož Roglič and with hindsight, a symbolic moment in his rise and Roglič’s gentle decline. Vingegaard’s not actually losing much time to Pogačar on the climbs so could be close.
The breakaway still has a chance as there are long stretches of road for a cohesive group to build up a lead, teams with ambitions for the finish can send a support rider. So Netcompany-Ineos may have plans for Thymen Arensman and these would be better suited if they can send Filippo Ganna or Josh Tarling up the road to help tow the move (perhaps with some Conti Gatorskin tires this tie). Likewise a Dylan Van Baarle for Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quickstep), a Casper Asgreen for Richard Carapaz (EF) again. So far, all the names from yesterday’s stage so Tobias Halland-Johanessen (Uno-X) is a contender too. Fresher picks could include Michael Storer (Tudor), Harald Tejada, Ben O’Connor and Luke Plapp (Jayco) but they’re not moving as well.
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Pogačar |
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Vingegaard, Del Toro, Arensman, Carapaz, VP-P |
Weather: sunny, dry and 25°C. A light tailwind for the start but this will vanish once over the Jura.
TV: KM0 is at 1.20pm and the finish is forecast for 5.55pm CEST. If you want to tune for the Salève climb, start around 4.15pm.
Whilst Pog is the obvious choice I wonder why he would bother today having deliberately targeted yesterday? Even the best have to spare their efforts and play the long game. Sure UAE can ride tempo and then see how it plays out, mopping up any opportunity to win that drops into their lap, but, aside from the obvious one extra win, why target this stage as well as yesterday? Pog already has four wins and I would reckon he targets at least one of the Alpe d’Huez finishes if not also the ITT (which would make six wins assuming they both came off). He only has so many matches himself. Also, as mentioned, its not really on the climbs where he drops Vingegaard (and the rest). After an intitial burst which gets him 15-20 seconds they usually climb at about the same speed. On the Tourmalet he got about 30 seconds (if I remember right) but got another 2 minutes plus on the descent and the drag to the line. Today there is no descent or drag so he has to win climbing – not impossible but a harder proposition.
A long-winded way to say I see this being a breakaway win since any team GC team pulling for a win will simply see Pog happily snap up being towed to the line.
There was a comment on French TV suggesting that as it looks likely that Pog will have a tilt at the Vuelta this year, he wanted to gain as much time yesterday and today to allow him to ‘rest’ for the last week in preparation.
This tour has been quite weird, not for Pog’s dominance or the ‘ensuing’/’so called’ boredom (depending on your pov!) but more for the reporting?
It seemed relatively obvious from Pog’s abandoned Vuelta plans last year to his light schedule preTour this year that he’s riding the Vuelta? I’m surprised more people didn’t take it as near confirmed in January and needed the Prince Albert story to treat it as a news flash?
Same with Seixas being reported as a revelation yesterday? We’ve all been watching him for the last year highly aware he’s the coming force, what was so special about yesterday compared to LBL, Fleche, Basque? His true announcement was last year at the Euro’s, that ride was spectacular and now what we’re all waiting for is to know if he can last 3 weeks (which already seemed quite likely!) but we’ll need to wait till the final mountain stage next week to know if that’s the case. *(Aware people only start watching at the TDF so that likely explains this, but to us the INRNG cognigenti yesterday wasn’t a surprise?)
Likewise all these stories and expectations around Jonas’ chances this year, Remco and even Pidcock in the last few days?
As an armchair fan it never seemed credible that Jonas’ losses the last two years were solely down to his crashes, they were awful injuries and he’s still an all time great rider but – there seemed a clear gulf between him and the new Pog of 2024, so the hype coming into this year following his Giro success seemed a stretch and has proved to be so, which leaves me questioning the journalism? Remco had less hype, but it was there with stories of how lean he looked etc… this all seemed fanciful to my own armchair eyes as I’d say it’s fairly clear he’s on his way out as a GC rider, especially at the TDF, and this year we’re witnessing the end of his golden era? Any podium is a huge achievement, and he may well hold onto 3rd – but I doubt it as there will soon be more mountain finishes and he’s looked ropey on all so far (as he has done for years to this point) so I’d be surprised to see him with the top3 come AlpeDH… the writing’s seems to be on the wall with Remco and if it goes the way I expect, then I’d go further to feel pretty confident he won’t fulfil Red Bull’s ambitions, as I cannot see him beating Pog, Seixas, Jonas, Lipowitz, Del Toro and possibly even Ayuso in the coming years without huge luck. Finally Pidcock, I mean? He even said he’s unable to go with the best uphill, so his quick slide back down the rankings was par for the course? He’ll never be a true threat for the win at any Grand Tour that any of the above names ride.
The real questions as far as I can see are all around Pog, Seixas and Del Toro?
These are the only three riders who seem to being in actual conversation of TDF victories in the coming years whether it be on current or potential levels (unless we have crashes/illness etc opening the door to a third Jonas title, which would be great and highly deserved).
The first question 2026 is throwing up is how much better than the young pretenders is Pog and can either catch him in the coming years?
Del Toro would need to move teams or be given TDF leadership (with Pog taking a TDF sabbatical), but as it stands he’s significantly behind Pog and wouldn’t be a safe bet to best Jonas or others so any of the above feels unlikely? Personally, I’m yet to see proof that Del Toro is on course to catch Pog before his inevitable decline? If I had to put money on their trajectories in the coming years, right now I’m not seeing that Del Toro has the top level climbing ability to either challenge Pog or be given the keys to castle were Pog to take a sabbatical? We’re all hoping he’ll continue his progression to be a leading TDF contender but if I had to answer today, I’d actually fear there’s a chance he may continue in Pog’s shadow before being usurped by Seixas? Strangely, I can see him challenging Pog in one day races currently more than GT’s? I’m starting to get Jonas/Matteo Jorgenson vibes tbh, but with a shed-load more victories to come for Del Toro as he’s a far more talented rider!
Then Seixas… who’s incredible… but what we all what to know is whether we will get the Pog vs Seixas face off sooner rather than later!!!! There’s no doubt he’s the coming force, and I thought his TT ride on Day1 was actually his standout moment so far, he was excellent in that final push. We also can’t really judge where his true potential lies as we simply don’t know. The only thing that’s clear right now is there’s a pretty sizeable gap between him and Pog, and I take a risk by saying I cannot see it being closed within the next few years? There’s even a chance we won’t see it closed at all if Pog retires early or in his early thirties.
So yeah, 2026 big GC questions don’t yet have answers but from the race I’m watching, barring any mishaps in coming years it feels like this Pogacar might even have three more of these lightly contested TDF wins in him before we see something else? If I were a gambling man, I’d put 2029 down as the year Seixas takes the fight to him for real but I actually fear if Pog rides into the sunset around 30-32 years old, then there’s chance he’s never truly taken down by this current crop. Thankfully though, there’s always more riders to emerge so we can’t really know!
I hope I’m wrong – but for those wanting an end to Pog’s World, I really cannot see it any time soon? I would actually bet that Pog is more likely to win all 5 monuments in a year before he’s beaten at the Tour if there’s not injuries/crashes. Crazy as that sounds.
I guess that the point is “everybody knows”, until they don’t…
Those moments may occur more or less frequently, in some races it’s maybe easier than in others, but at the end of the day we had them at the TDF in 2020, 2022, 2024. So I guess people get used to reasonably (up to a certain point) expect the (relatively) unexpected. Obviously journos stress this aspect.
Another hindsight factor concerns shades of gray. Nobody can expect Pidcock to race for a TDF win, or ever did, I think (or I hope), but the interesting GC question might be… will he be able to hold on a top 10 à la Guillaume Martin? He couldn’t climb with the best, either. Same for Remco. A podium on this course always looked a tough call, but how high his fight will eventually bring him?
Guess journos can’t say to the public “hey, let me explain you why it’s so interesting to see if Pidcock can grab a 9th place” because generalist public in most countries doesn’t get that, so they use a lie of sort (“yup, 4th, podium at reach!”) in order to convey some form of truth – it can be compelling to watch as an athlete manages his set of natural qualities in order to get a result which is far from obvious, all while also trying to make it compatible with a conflicting task, the stage win.
Remco could just race like Ganna, why not? But we’d lose a very valuable story. And that’s happening *precisely because* he doesn’t accept what’s so clear for everyone. So, in this case, too, there’s a pinch of true in what the press writes first and foremost to sell their product, of course.
@oldDAVE the crucial point about Seixas is he’s never ridden beyond a week-long stage race. So doing it yesterday was a big deal – news.
As long as no one in the GC contention is in a breakaway I agree…UAE will let them go today and spread some of the wealth.
A star is born … and a very steely 19 year old at that.
It says something about how dominant Pogacar is that a 38 second win following a visible grimace felt like a below par day for him yesterday.
To my eye it looked as though Pogacar was visibly pouring on the power it is just that he did it the old fashioned way of leaving it ti the last 2 km of theclimb.
His post race interview sounds exactly as you describe. A possible opportunistic win, not a scorched earth strategy.
Sidenote on Seixas: 19 years old, 2 weeks of crazy hard racing in the heat and he matches one of the best climbers of all time on a super hard climb ?! He’s got us all French cycling fans on the edge of our seats. As Jacky Durand said yesterday, it’s a happy thing he’s French, because otherwise there would be some serious eyebrow frowning action… Go Paul ! Sorry for the chauvinistic view. I’m also warming up to Remco a lot. Was always fed up by his drama queen antics, but he raced with guts yesterday. I don’t get the complaints on the GC so far, this is a very interesting race IMHO.
+1
Seixas isn’t simply being strong, he has also raced incredibly well.
I agree that Remco is riding with guts. He impressed with his efforts to come back after getting dropped. I think he is motivated to stay ahead of Lipowitz. His long altitude camp and weight loss have probably helped.
Considering Remco’s weight and the fact that he absolutley destroys everyone in a TT makes is seem like he should do better in these mountain stages. Without knowing the exact numbers it’s difficult to know but IMO it could be one of three things. 1. Simple aerodynamics (I don’t really buy this). 2. His physiology is better lends itself to a one hour effort instead of a four hour effort (possible). 3. Mental (likely)
Add that he’s often looked strong in Classics and I think that’s more about recovery (and mental).
To delve into subtler aspects, maybe it’s about biomechanics, too. When you ride uphill the muscle system works differently than on flat terrain, the way you breath is also different.
Question: does anyone have a clue what Visma are trying to do? Its plausible JV does not finish on the podium here and their tactics have been very questionable. Example: yesterday they had guys in the front who did nothing and then went backwards when scooped up. Then JV himself pulls on the Col du Haag – but to what end? He wasn’t really attacking. OK, Jorgenson is feeling rough for crash and sickness reasons but they also have I think four guys who also did the Giro? Is that good team planning or setting yourself up to fail? Its seems like the way they have planned and executed this Tour is somewhat bizarre.
In reply to a similar question on the yesterday’s stage preview… it’s not obvious. Is Vingegaard riding in a way to secure second place? Or are the team still formatted as if they want to win the race? The problem was either way Vingegaard didn’t get much out of the stage, losing time to Del Toro and Seixas, not gaining much on Evenepoel etc. He also said he didn’t recon the Col du Haag so got caught out a bit. Vingegaard will find the terrain coming up suits more but even today needs to gain time on Evenepoel ahead of Tuesday’s TT.
Perhaps he just pulled because he wanted to try Pogacar? Vingegaard came to win the race (albeit surely knowing his chances are slim), not to finish on the podium, didn’t he?
I may be wrong; i.e. Vingegaard may be riding the Tour because of necessity to get visibility and help attract new sponsors.
Visma’s Tour is definitely a bit weird. They seem to be hit hard by WvA’s absence, lacking plan B. Also, it seems weird Vingegaard let himself to be surprised by a climb this blog introduced in advance. He had a small matter of Giro to do during spring, but still, he should have come prepared.
I’m still scratching my head at Vinny and Visma’s tactics (or maybe lack of them?). Perhaps he’s set to announce a shock move to UAE as an astronomically paid super deluxe mountain rider for new leader Pog?!!!!
I know you are only joking but if we are in the rumour business now then maybe its as a support rider for UAE’s new 13 million Euro recruit, Paul Seixas?!! (This is a rumour being put around rather than one I have made up.)
@Bubble Wrap – not out of the question, is it?
Pulling in the breakaway with Pidcock in tow also seemed odd
Yeah, the only thing I could think of was that they wanted to wear down the UAE support cast. When Politt stopped after 70k of chasing, Felix G was making the bunch approach very quickly and nobody was really driving the group in front.
It sort of worked because by the time they got to Haag it was down to Pog and Del Toro, also because Yates seemed to have an off day. It also didn’t matter one bit to the outcome.
Yates didn’t look completely cooked to me. Looked more like they told him to sit this one out, as it would be enough. Maybe to spare him for the next day?
They’re missing Grischa Niermann.
“Then JV himself pulls on the Col du Haag – but to what end?”
Sepp Kuss said to Wielerflits that they want to take away as much as Pogi’s explosive burst in last part of the climb as possible by keeping the tempo high.
That makes some sense. Also if they keep the pace high enough that Pogačar only goes in the last 2k, not the last 10k, they lose a bit less time when he does go.
And they tire out/try to drop those just below Vingegaard on GC.
True and, as Nick says, it makes a lot of sense, still when you see Kuss going “for a high pace” but not gaining anything on Carapaz, or even losing some seconds, you can really sense the difference until now from previous iterations of the Visma team.
I think Visma are seriously missing Wout. I’m also trying to understand why they left Laporte at home.
There have also been a couple of occasions where they failed in their plans to send riders up the road – I saw Campanaerts in no man’s land at least once.
I’m hoping Tim Rex continues his development. He was immense in the Giro.
I see few potential reasons
1. They really believe they can still win the Tour and not by DNF by Pogacar, but cracking him or somehow gaining time, so they cannot allow the buffer to grow more by e.g. letting Tadej gain another 2-3 minutes by playing chess with other riders from top5
2. They are just saying that they believe in win, but really it is just desparate attempt not to loose face in front on (potential?) sponsors, so Dane is trying to keep the gap as small as possible, but with this race tactics he loose on finishes. But also he should gain some time on guys like Evenepoel or Lipowitz in 3rd week if everything goes right.
3. Visma doesn’t care about losses now, so they just try to cook others (except Tadej ofc) in 2nd week to have easier task in 3rd week. Fatigue is building and historically Jonas had best last week of Tour. Afair it was also their tactics from 2023, when they tried to make race as hard as possible for Pogacar, to crack him due to interrupted preparation for that race, and it finally happened in 3rd week. So maybe it is somehow similar tactics, but adjusted to different opponents.
Is it the best strategy? I doubt, but for sure they have more data and were historically very successful on that field.
Yesterday was Pogačar’s 500 day of racing as a pro, and he has won 125 times – 25% hit rate. (Yes, I know there are slight vagaries around overall GC in stage races – but still, wow).
Looking at how he has been gaining time on the flat as much as uphill, would anyone bet against him in the TT? I know Evenepoel ought to be the favourite, but deep into a stage race does funny things – so you’ve got the rider who in a one-off is the best time trial list in the world, against a decent time trailer who has seemingly the best recovery in the world facing off in a race after two weeks. Close to call, I suspect.
Plus the second best TTer who is his team’s only chance of a stage win
Sidenotes:
– Another tragicomic puncture for Ineos!
– Pogi, too, confirmed that he felt that knowing the climb in detail, unlike Vingegaard, was an advantage. Maybe Remco had had a good recon, too?
Pogi also said that he couldn’t show his hand for today but that as a team they see this stage as an especially complicated one.
– On this subject, it would have been entertaining if Decathlon had isolated the captains thanks to their team forcing on some penultimate climb instead of the very last one. Of course, they played it right, don’t misunderstand me – throwing in a chaos factor didn’t make sense with Seixas feeling great, plus a single captain as him should have faced some couples in Lidl, UAE, Red Bull. Yet, it would have been peculiar to watch that on some rolling to flat intermediate section, because the final climb instead just put everybody into his own slot. Maybe something to hope for today?
As I had already said, I’m not very convinced for now by the global strength of team UAE, and I’m far from surprised by Pogi wanting to keep Del Toro close for tactical reasons, friendship aside.
– This TDF looks increasingly drawn for Pogi, save for the final two mountain stages perhaps, or even just the last one, and maybe today (but not even much so). Even if he had been left a bit back on Tourmalet or Haag, the terrain after that, be it many kms or just a few, incredibly fits his skills… which also explain the – for now – huge Tour which Remco has been having despite being well behind several competitors in pure climbing skills. Of course, I can see him falling down in GC soon, maybe as soon as today and surely later on. A bit “unfair” that he’s got so little ITT to make the most of his abilities, but that’s been the TDF for years now.
– For some unknown psychological reason within my mind – probably fanboy “scaramanzia”? – this year I have sort of an allucinatory “sensation” about Pogi possibly losing a (relatively) big chunk of time on some stage. A sensation I didn’t have as much in 2024 *after PDB* or in 2025, even, despite the modest showings in the second part of the race (then, I felt it was a deliberate attitude). Can’t really say why, he looks to be doing what he wants in relative control while the rest are going all-in all the time. Perhaps just the old unreal idea about him going “too much” and hybris being punished or whatever. The above is made even less probable by his most credible if not single rival, Vingegaard, being short on serious team support – and the effect is manifest for now.
– “Despite Pogi” (I really think… thanks to Pogi, too), GC stages have been very good for now, unlike most of the rest which sits between “fine” (MvdP, Pedersen, Pidcock, Schmid) and “poor” (some sprints were bordering amateur).
This is a very way out idea but could Visma have identified Pog’s only weakness being Pog and his appetite for stage wins either for himself or team-mates so they’re helping him to tire himself out to pounce in the third week (sort of ‘rope a dope’, although of course Pog is now dope)?
I can imagine that the real race today will be for the White jersey.
So at least there is a bit of suspense!
You mean we might find out if Ayuso is actually in the race?
Del Toro assures that he’s seen him around… in the Colombian champion jersey!
The Giro della Val d’Aosta is being races this day, today being the last decisive mountain stage.
As in the Giro Baby before, I’m not being hugely impressed by anyone (Finn apart). Sort of pure climbers coming, which is good news, including a talented Brazilian which is nice, Sparfel at the Giro promising as an all around talent (probably one for Classics, at the end of the day)… little more Van Kerckhove and Rafferty proved, if anything, that they need more time (no problem, rightly so). My sensation, for now, is that this generation is very different from the previous batch. Once again, it’s not easy to differentiate between general processes (“athletes are ready earlier and earlier”) or contingent combinations of factors including pure chance.
Of course from my POV the above doesn’t imply at all Finn, Nordhagen, Widar, Tuckwell or younger Omrzel etc. will necessarily have a better pro career than “painters” Matisse, Bock, Bravo and Ramírez, just that some talent became very obvious earlier on (I didn’t name Seixas in the first list because we already know he’ll have a better career than the rest 😉 ).
Maybe having Seixas among them raised the bar for everybody as now Pogi does for some and him and Vingo mutually did with each other.
I’m just catching up news of the doping control story through commentary of today’s stage. For those not aware, Vingegaard was apparently woken at 2am for a doping control and Pogacar was woken at 5am. Vingegaard got back to sleep but Tadej did not and listened to music.
Seems totally unacceptable to me as a matter of simple procedure. There have to be times in the middle of a race when the doping control people cannot interrupt riders engaged in a current race. (I would suggest no testing between 11pm and 7am.) Would it really matter to them if they turned up at 7am? What if tiredness due to lack of sleep in a rider causes an accident in the subsequent stage?
Seixas is coming up strong! ^___^
I agree it is ridiculous that it came this far but the degree to which people have gone in the past to fool doping controls is ridiculous too. Establishing guaranteed windows invites the cheats to make use of them. Given how critical it is to have believable outcomes, I think the goal justifies the means here. It sucks for the riders but as long as the burden is divided somewhat equally, it won’t have much influence on the results. If you are clean, it must be a reassuring thought that your competitors are being checked so thoroughly.
The logical conclusion of what you are saying is all riders woken up in the middle of the night. That does not make the race safer. And given both were apparently woken up it means they were asleep and not up to nighttime monkey business. Like Matteo Jorgenson, I would be furious if it were my team leader being compromised. Because losing recovery time mid Tour IS compromising their performance.
Old debate, but doping controls grant little to nothing. They’re just a tool to make pressure or deliberately kicking somebody out.
And aren’t we in the passport era, by the way?
To expect self-appointed police to justify their nonsense is unlikely. But you make a point. Passports are supposed to be a means of constant monitoring against rider specific benchmarks. If the argument is cheats will use non-testing periods to cheat then what’s the passport for? And surely cheats cheat by using something that evades current testing anyway? The police are always playing catch up. None of which justifies compromising racers mid-race whoever they are.
I think that top riders and well-funded teams know the passport rules and how to stay – maybe just – within permitted tolerances. The thresholds have also to be fairly lax to avoid any risk of false positives. Only the rash are caught out.
The ITA did warn teams before the Tour started, that testing could happen at any time not just at stage finishes.
And what were the teams supposed to do about that if they thought it unacceptable? Refuse to take part? It is, to coin a phrase, a fait accompli.
I should imagine riding the Vuelta with a Prince Albert would be extremely uncomfortable.