Big stage, one of those that dignifies the beauty of this sport. Ancient cycling stage, an almost extinct cycling, where the raw alpine attacks are chained to lift the staff from the sofa. Today there is no siesta or unease, because the show offered by the prodigy Pogacar and the new leader of the Tour Vingegaard in the ordeal of the Galibier and the Granon already belongs to the imaginary of cycling. The Dane destroys the two-time champion four and a half kilometers from the finish line after a power-to-power battle at the foot of the Galibier, finishes the Granon alone and cries, exhausted, on his bike. He snatches more than two minutes from the unwavering Pogacar in the queen stage, shows his weaknesses to his face and enters fully into the history of the legendary French event.
The epic is breathed in the environment from very early. The day begins in a small town in Savoy called Albertville, whose views of the great peaks of eastern France are well worth a visit, with an attack of the usual kind, of Mathieu van der Poel y Wout van Aert. Both off-roaders, kamikaze in nature, create the breakaway and keep up the pace in the first port of the day, in the iconic esses of the Montvernier loops. The escape is wide, numerous and unreliable. Only Wout, the leader of the Geschke mountain and the French Barguil and Latour withstand the onslaught of the next peak, the dreaded Telegraph (first category port). Shortly after, Van der Poel gets off the bike and leaves the Tour. After an eternal Giro and a difficult start in France, his legs are not good enough.
Enclosed in the Galibier
Behind, a few minutes, come the favorites. At the Télégraphe no one moves, no one shows their cards, but tension and nerves star in their faces. Right on the short descent of this first class pass, before beginning the ascent to the Galibier, Roglic attacks: the Jumbo-Visma begins his work. Pogacar follows his trail without problems, but in the group, except for Thomas (Ineos), all are squires of his Nordic pursuer. Faced with such a dilemma, like a lion threatened by hyenas, the Slovenian receives and repels a wave of attacks from the Dutch team. While Kuss and Kruijswijk give the group rhythm, Vingegaard and Roglic alternate one attack after another. Classic cycling, wild cycling without limits. Like a colossus, the champion of the UAE endures sufficiently, launches the occasional slash to terrify his rivals and waits for the arrival of Mark Soler (in his new role as domestique in the UAE) in the middle of the ascent to Galibier.
The Balkan breathes because at the moment he maintains control of the race. However, there is still the last climb of the day, the iconic Col du Granon, where this stage dies. The escapees Van Aert and Barguil give up on their ramps and the repeat offender nairowhich had been hooked together with Bardet to the group of favourites, launch your bet. Before, a pull of Pogacar had finished with his compatriot Roglic. After a thousand attacks and stoic work for the benefit of his teammate Vingegaard, the champion of the Vuelta dropped out of the fight for the general.
Despite the attempts of Nairo and Bardet, the spotlights belong to Vingegaard. Four and a half kilometers from the end, the 25-year-old Dane ferociously attacks Pogacar and leaves him in the lurch, catches up with Quintana and heads towards the summit alone. He soars over the bleak, inhospitable port of Col du Granon while the crowd lining the edges of the winding road give him encouragement. His team recounts the feat on the headset and Jonas continues to climb very fast. He reaches the finish line while clenching his teeth (his body language only connotes pain), takes off the bike and cries with his family: he is the new maillot amarillo of the Tour de France after a period exhibition.
Two minutes and 51 seconds later it arrives Tadej. Downcast gaze, open jersey and face of suffering. For the first time in his idyll with the Tour, the Slovenian shows obvious signs of weakness after the Jumbo trap. Bardet, Thomas, Gaudu and even Yates leave behind an exhausted Pogacar who finishes in seventh position.
Alpe d’Huez Moment
Also overtaken by Bardet in the general classification, the third consecutive Tour of Pogacar he is threatened by a young Dane who, unlike him, has a healthy, top-tier team working for him. However, to the hope of the two-time champion Pogacar, today the Alpe d’Huez appears on the scene, and that is big words. The twelfth stage of the Tour seems decisive with three special category ports. In its 165-kilometre route, the peloton will climb the Galibier via Lautaret, climb the Col de la Croix de Fer and finish at the aforementioned and historic Alpe d’Huez.
