All eyes on these riders: on Jai Hindley, the Australian from the German team Bora-hansgrohe, who surprisingly went into the sixth stage of this Tour de France in the yellow jersey. And the two favorites for the general classification, the Dane Jonas Vingegaard and the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, who suffered a defeat on the first stage of the Pyrenees the day before and started the race 53 seconds behind Vingegaard. Back to the Pyrenees. At just 144.9km from Tarbes to Cauterets-Cambasque, it was almost a short haul for the best pros, but the organizers had peppered them with 3700m of climb and steep climbs, resulting in the stage providing clarity in many ways.
First: Jai Hindley will not be able to intervene in the battle between the two tour giants for overall victory. The Aussie drives hard, but not hard enough to stay up front. Hindley lost the yellow jersey but was now 1m34s down in an excellent third place overall, a position he will aim to defend until Paris. Second: At the very, very front, another wind is blowing. As on the fifth stage, Vingegaard and Pogacar fought a fascinating duel on their own level.
“You are all murderers!”
On Wednesday, Vingegaard had clearly won, on Thursday it was Pogacar, who outperformed the competitor on the final climb and won the stage with a lead of 24 seconds. Although the Dane took the yellow jersey, he was not the moral winner this time. Pogacar has regained momentum and is now in second place, 25 seconds back, waiting for more opportunities in the mountains for the favorites’ next clash.
The drivers had to overcome three huge obstacles on this sixth stage, to warm up the ascent to the Col d’Aspin after 60 kilometers with a length of twelve kilometers and an average gradient of a friendly 6.5 percent. A descent followed and the first sticking point was the ascent to the legendary, 2115 meter high Tourmalet, which has more stories and dramas entwined around it than all the other Tour mountains put together. In 1910 this giant was on the tour program for the first time. He established the Tour’s reputation as cycling’s ultimate test and got it the headlines it was hoping for as it rode through the Pyrenees. The first winner, Octave Lapize, is said to have shouted to the organizers afterwards: “You are all murderers!”
The riders struggled up to this peak again this time. It was 17.4 kilometers uphill, a breakaway group led by former world champion Julian Alaphilippe, the favorite of the French, who was also cheered on by President Emmanuel Macron on site, during his traditional, one should say: state visit, which he made of the tour, all the unrest and Despite riots in the country, resigned. This group was four and a half minutes ahead of the peloton with all the favorites including Hindley and his first aid Emanuel Buchmann, as well as Vingegaard and Pogacar.
Three kilometers before the summit, Hindley lost the connection after Buchmann had previously fallen behind, Vingegaard had successfully instructed the American Sepp Kuss to increase the pace in pursuit of the leaders, as on the day before, and only Pogacar was able to keep up the pace, which Vingegaard then did floated up once. There were only two of them then. As if on a tandem, they drove over the summit into a 20-kilometer descent. Vingegaard’s teammate Wout van Aert dropped back from the lead group at this stage and harnessed himself to his captain as they shot down the valley with Pogacar in tow. At the bottom they had reached the leading group, the excitement was rising and rising, and there was one last Category 1 climb ahead of the pros, up to the finish in the ski resort of Cauterets-Cambasque.
Last climb, eight riders in front. 16 kilometers uphill, 5.4 percent steep on average, getting steeper towards the top. Wout van Aert led the group into the climb, retiring with 4.4km to go and Vingegaard attacking. Eight, nine, eleven percent gradient, then there were only two. The big two. Two and a half kilometers from the finish then Pogacar’s counterattack. A dry start and fifty meters away, which he was able to extend to the finish.
Michael Eder, Pau Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 11 Michael Eder, Pau Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 8 John Degenkolb Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 8
This Friday is the day for the favorites to take a deep breath, recharge their batteries for Sunday, when another extremely difficult stage awaits them in the Massif Central, a tough mountain test in the volcanic rock of the Puy de Dôme. On Friday, however, other drivers will be challenged first. The stage leads over 169.9 kilometers from Mont-de-Marsan to Bordeaux on mostly flat terrain and promises a mass sprint.
