1. Van Aert has set the record straight
“I was quite critical following van Aert’s river breakaway between Binche and Longwy. When you are a runner and you find yourself at the front of the race with the yellow jersey on your back, you are necessarily intoxicated but it was up to the sports directors of the Jumbo-Visma team to ask him to get up. If he hadn’t persisted in this way, I am sure he would have won or, at worst, finished second at the top of the coast of the Religious. This Saturday, the Antwerp man set the record straight. I admire a runner who cannot leave anyone indifferent. He seemed somewhat locked up at 250 meters, but he has such power and such a boost that he is able to restore sometimes badly embarked situations in a few pedal strokes.
The Jumbo-Visma team worked hard to control the breakaway and I am convinced that, deep down, the leaders of the Dutch team know that it will be very difficult to tickle Pogacar. This was felt in their selection. They picked guys like Van Hooydonck or Laporte to work for Wout which has the power to secure multiple stage wins and kicks things off for the green jersey.”
2. Pogacar’s No. 1 rival is called Covid and wears bib number 19
“The two cases of coronavirus today in the Tour peloton are obviously not good news. Pogacar’s No. 1 rival is called Covid and wears bib number 19. His teammate Laengen had to leave the Tour and we imagine that the double winner of the Tour had contact with him. The same reasoning applies to the riders at Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl where it is the carnage in the staff. This Monday, during the day of rest, a test wave is going to be carried out. And I sincerely hope that the pandemic will not distort an extremely spectacular Tour. No one wants to see a favorite forced to leave the race for this reason…”
