2023-07-05 21:29:00
Very few had expected that there would be so much happening in the overall standings on the first real mountain stage of the Tour of France.
But a weak moment from Pogacar, a lot of will from Vingegaard and above all the constellation of the huge breakaway group of the day made for a real spectacle.
After five days, Hindley is now leading the tour by 47 seconds over the defending champion, Emanuel Buchmann is currently fourth overall and Pogacar is already 1:40 minutes behind.
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Not only was Wednesday itself very exciting, but it also ensured that a lot is likely to happen in the next two and a half weeks.
Three things that stood out:
1. Vingegaard turns the tables once morest Pogacar
During the first two stages in the Basque Country, one might get the impression that Pogacar was in good form and had a slight edge over defending champion Vingegaard. The Slovenian went on the offensive on stage 1 with Adam Yates at his side, who was in a good mood there, and collected a 16-second time bonus over the weekend.
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His liveliness gave reason to expect that he would also aim for eight seconds in the bonus sprint at the Col de Marie Blanque on Wednesday and attack there. In general, there were indications that the second game would give Pogacar an advantage and that Vingegaard would have his back once morest the wall as the tour progressed – especially since Pogacar also played psychological games and Jumbo – provoked Visma, while the yellow-blacks were already talking regarding internal quarrels was.
But then came Wednesday with the first long climbs in the Pyrenees and Vingegaard made it all a thing of the past with a spirited start regarding 1.5 kilometers from the summit of the Col de Marie Blanque. “So what?!”, one might think, the Dane wanted to yell at the public. Even though Wout van Aert did things at the front of the race whose meaningfulness seemed at least questionable and which might have given the skeptics a tailwind in terms of team climate, Vingegaard made it clear: He is number 1 in the fight for yellow.
“In the last climb I felt strong and told Sepp to drive forward and push. He did that, then I attacked,” said Vingegaard at the finish and explained that it had nothing to do with Pogacar either: ” I felt good, just look at me and if I’m fine then I attack.”
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Pogacar, on the other hand, was obviously not feeling well and didn’t even try to follow the Dane’s attack right away. “It wasn’t that difficult, Jonas was so fast,” he summed up the day briefly. “I lost my good legs before the summit. But I feel good, hopefully it will be better in the next few days.” However, the Slovenian also indicated that he is probably not as strong on the long mountains as in other years: “Now I know my limits, but the motivation is high.”
2. Can Hindley and Bora dream big now?
He has conquered the yellow jersey and his lead of 47 seconds over Vingegaard is considerable at first. Jai Hindley is not leading the Tour de France following five days by chance, but because he is one of the very best climbers in the world. And an old wisdom of the Tour of France says: The yellow jersey gives you wings.
So anything is possible for the Australian over the next two and a half weeks. Hindley went from being a podium candidate to a contender for victory on Wednesday – no question regarding it. “With Hindley in yellow, we can no longer only pay attention to Pogacar,” said Wout van Aert at the stage finish in Laruns, and EF team boss Jonathan Vaughters even said in the studio of the British Eurosport colleagues that Hindley is now the biggest opponent of defending champion Vingegaard .
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On paper and in fact he certainly is following the win in Laruns. But one mustn’t forget how the result came regarding on the first Pyrenees stage – namely sometimes through lucky coincidences in the initial phase. Hindley didn’t really want to be in the breakaway group, which suddenly formed following regarding 27 kilometers and comprised a total of 36 men.
The huge group went up to four minutes – mainly because Jumbo – Visma did not help the competition from UAE Team Emirates in the peloton in the pursuit and because Patrick Konrad en route to the Col de Soudet in the first half of the race for Hindley the head of the group shivered. The German champion Emanuel Buchmann also helped on the climb and showed to the finish that he is in the best of moods at the moment – a very strong noble helper for Hindley and with the current fourth place overall a good tactical option for the team.
But what must not be forgotten are those four minutes ahead of which there were still 2:30 minutes left at the beginning of the steepest and most difficult four kilometers on the Col de Marie Blanque, the last mountain of the day. When Vingegaard’s helper Sepp Kuss put the pedal to the metal and the Dane then attacked himself, the gap quickly closed so that Vingegaard was only 1:04 minutes behind Hindley at the summit, who was now also driving unleashed.
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Sure: Hindley had previously invested more, but not much, much more than the opponents in the main draw in the initially 36-man lead group. Hindley still has to prove that he is really on par with Vingegaard on the mountain. Incidentally, Pogacar also climbed said four final kilometers of Marie Blanque faster than the day’s winner, despite a weak moment. And the Yates brothers, David Gaudu, Carlos Rodriguez and Mattias Skjelmose weren’t slower either.
So the podium goal has become very realistic for Hindley on Day 1 of the Pyrenees and he is now in an ideal position to do so – and with the yellow jersey’s wings, nothing can be ruled out. But the expectations of Bora fans should not grow too high on Wednesday evening.
3. Fireworks at the start of the tour
The first two stages in the mountainous Basque Country were already a spectacle with two attacks from Tadej Pogacar and very exciting finishes in Bilbao and San Sebastian. But following the peloton had recovered on the subsequent two flat stages at a leisurely pace, the first stage in the Pyrenees topped the opening weekend once once more. Gone are the days when the contenders for the Tour victory first felt and eyed each other on the first difficult mountain stages before the real fight for yellow only flared up in the third week.
The young generation of drivers does not believe in waiting, Wednesday’s route with the steep Col de Marie Blanque offered a suitable stage for spectacle and the result was a 162.7 kilometer race that was exciting from the start.
But the best thing is that this should continue in the coming days. Because with the overall ranking that has now been laid as a foundation, various co-favorites are in a hurry. Vingegaard needs to attack to catch Hindley – and he’ll likely want to attack once more as early as Thursday, potentially taking advantage of Pogacar’s weakness once more.
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The Slovenian, on the other hand, is now 1:40 minutes behind in the overall standings so much that he can no longer concentrate on collecting bonus seconds, but has to launch a mammoth attack at some point in the next two and a half weeks if he still has the tour wants to win. And who is more likely to do such an action than Pogacar?
And even if Vingegaard gets the yellow jersey in the coming days and underlines his supremacy that was hinted at on Wednesday, the fight for the podium is more exciting than it has been for a long time.
So buckle up! The fireworks at the start of the tour were really just the appetizer.
You may also be interested in: Bora captain Hindley conquers yellow, Vingegaard is behind Pogacar
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