A race turned on its head, history written before our eyes, all shaped by a team performance that we haven’t seen the like of perhaps ever at the Tour de France.
It is a rare sight to see a team fly so close to the sun in attacking from second position on the general classification at the Tour de France, so it is gratifying to see it pay off when it does work. There’s a lot to risk, the chance of being seen as abject failures, and when going up against someone as strong as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) the very real possibility that he might just laugh and go on to win in an even more dominant fashion.
Jumbo-Visma went absolutely all-out on the opening high mountains stage of the Tour de France. It’s said that the riders make the race, and on this occasion, they took a route that was already going to be a lot of fun with the summit finish atop the very tough Col du Granon and made the prior ascents of the Col du Galibier and the Telegraph key stepping stones on their ride to victory.
In past Tours, teams running second behind dominant riders have tried moves for sure, but mostly they hold their final cards back, not wanting to risk that they could crash and burn, plummeting down the standings.
On Stage 11, with Jumbo-Visma, there was no such safety net as they went all out with over 70 kilometres to go and the hardest climbing of the Tour de France still remaining in the stage. They saw a chance to isolate Pogačar from his UAE Team Emirates squad and they took it, but in going so early on the Col du Telegraph and then again on the Galibier they risked their chances.
It was shown on a couple of occasions how tenuous that grip was, as Pogačar attacked away from all but Vingegaard. He flicked an elbow for the Dane to come through as the other contenders began to fade into the distance, but the Dane knew that the only way to win was either with strength in numbers or after whittling down the Slovenian’s prodigious strength and shook his head.
That key moment allowed Jumbo-Visma’s numbers to come back into play on the descent, and while Pogačar was grinning at the camera, clearly enjoying the racing action so far, it must have been one effort too many on the previous climbs when the decisive attack came with five kilometres remaining to the summit of Col du Granon.
This time, there weren’t multiple attacks required, just one solid push that saw Vingegaard jump away and Pogačar rapidly begin to fade, the first time avid cycling viewers have seen him properly ‘crack’ since becoming a Tour de France winner.
The rest was Vingegaard’s remaining strength versus the rest of the general classification field, but it was the way that Jumbo-Visma delivered their Danish star that gave him the chance to defeat his Slovenian rival. If those first attacks that we saw on the Col du Telegraph had come on the Col du Granon, it likely would have been Pogačar covering them with the ease that he has brought to the rest of this Tour de France, but on the back of a hard stage, there was finally a sign of weakness.
What we know, almost for certain, is that Pogačar won’t give up. The day after he conceded over a minute in crosswinds in the 2020 Tour de France, he was straight on the attack the next day to get as much as possible of his deficit back, successful in taking back 40 seconds with an attack. He then won the next stage, and would eventually win the whole race.
He’s a born racer, you put the 23-year-old in competition with a finish line, he’s going to ride as hard as possible for it.
Romain Bardet (Team DSM) is looking the best he has in years, perhaps ever, his team are all-in and you know the French public are going to be behind him taking the fight to the new yellow jersey.
If Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma are up for the challenge will prove a fascinating battle.
The Tour de France continues with Stage 12, a special set-piece for the Tour de France with the summit finish to Alpe D'Huez on Bastille Day sure to bring out the best in the riders and fans. Watch from 8.55pm AEST on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker and then from 9.30pm AEST on SBS and SBS On Demand.
