The Tour de France ran hot on the first day in the mountains. Fireworks in the Pyrenees, with a big winner and a big loser. The big winner: Jai Hindley, the Australian captain of the German team Bora-hansgrohe, who, with the support of his first helper Emanuel Buchmann, won the difficult stage over 162.7 kilometers from Pau to Laruns as a soloist and took the lead in the overall ranking and thus the yellow card Jersey from the British Adam Yates took over.
The big loser: Tadej Pogacar, who suffered a defeat in the duel of the favorites for overall victory after his opponent Jonas Vingegaard attacked him on the steepest part of the last mountain and left him helpless. Vingegaard was able to feel like a winner with fifth place in the first round of a duel that went surprisingly clearly to the Dane. But the greatest joy was in the Bora-hansgrohe warehouse. It was a perfect day for the Raublinger racing team. Hindley and Buchmann had caught up early on with a group that was up to four minutes ahead of the peloton, and in that Hindley proved to be the strongest rider, brilliantly assisted by Patrick Konrad and Emanuel Buchmann, who is enjoying his second spring and moving up in the overall standings 16 improved to fourth place.
“I have no words”
Hindley could hardly believe his luck at the finish. “I have no words,” he said, only to find some. “I came to my first tour without any big goals, I didn’t know what to expect, you have to see how everything develops first.” He traveled to the Giro d’Italia in a similar way last year. In the end he had won it there. He now sits 47 seconds ahead of Vingegaard in the Tour standings. Buchmann in fourth place is another 24 behind. Big loser Pogacar pays for his slump with a current deficit of 53 seconds on Vingegaard. That’s not the world, but the momentum now clearly speaks for the Dane from Team Jumbo-Visma. Pogacar will have to try to limit the damage this Thursday on the sixth, much more difficult Pyrenees stage. On Wednesday he didn’t give the impression of being able to do it. His performance on the mountain was too weak, his UAE team too weak.
The sticking point of this fifth stage of the Tour was the ascent to the Col de Marie-Blanque, 28 kilometers before the finish, 7.7 kilometers long and getting steeper towards the top. Seven men in front, Hindley and Buchmann with them. Then the Australian and the Austrian Felix Gall attacked. Buchmann stayed behind, but continued to make a strong impression. He, of course, had no interest in participating in the pursuit of his captain, who made a vigorous breakaway a mile from the summit. Further back, Yates lost the connection when Vingegaard, Pogacar on the rear wheel, increased the number of strokes with the help of his assistant Sepp Kuss. When it looked like the two favorites would kiss and go in pursuit of Hindley, Vingegaard suddenly stepped up and was soon not seen again. Pogacar showed no reaction while his Danish rival charged like unleashed, into the descent, into the final flat section, three riders in tow, none of whom replaced him in the lead, including Buchmann, as was natural.
Published/Updated: John Degenkolb Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 8 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 6
The sixth stage this Thursday leads over 144.9 kilometers and 4400 meters in altitude from Tarbes to a ski resort called Cauterets-Cambasque, which will be another hot day. A mountain of the third category, the Côte de Capvern-les-Bains, after 30 kilometers is still something to warm up, but then the fun is over. After around 70 kilometers it goes over the Col d’Aspin, an obstacle of the first category, and then after another 25 kilometers follows one of the iconic peaks in the history of the Tour, the 2115 meter high Tourmalet, which is classified in the Hors Catégorie the climbs of the highest category. From there, the pros race down into the valley to finally fight their way up another 16 kilometers to Cauterets-Cambasque. A mountain finish, also from the highest category.
All in all, a stage in which everyone has to put their cards on the table. If Pogacar shows weakness there again, he runs the risk of losing a lot more time than on Wednesday. The question will be whether he can regain his composure or whether it is the case that he is not in full possession of his strength after a long injury break. And the other big question will be how Hindley will fare given the mighty mountains to be climbed that day. At the Giro last year he got stronger every day. The competition will be eyeing the new man in yellow, and by Thursday night it will be known if he has what it takes to keep up with the very best on the Tour, even in the high mountains.
