Controversy French Police search the Bahrain-Victorious hotel on suspicion of doping
There is no mercy or trace of graceful generosity in
Tadej Pogacar
, for whom every day on the bike is a new challenge. The Slovenian runs as if each stage were the last and his rivals can only surrender time and time again to his superiority. There are already three stages on this Tour, the same ones he achieved last year, and he has all the tickets to achieve the fourth in the time trial on Saturday. All this, together with his more than five minutes of advantage over the second classified, configures a monstrous hegemony that will become a new triplet in Paris, the same as in the last edition: general, mountain and young people. Only
Mark Cavendish
will accompany him on Sunday on the Champs Elysees as the winner of the regularity.
Luz Ardiden
thus joins the map of conquests of Pogacar, despite the attempts to avoid it by
Jonas Vingegaard
and
Richard Carapaz
, who will have to settle for the podium, which is no more consolation.
Enric Mas
also sought his luck
, recovered from his two bad days at Mont Ventoux and Portet, overlapping the three best men in the race to the final ramps. He even attacked them and for a moment he thought he could win, "but I saw a yellow plane coming from behind and it was impossible. I said, 'let's see if he'll let me ...', but I also wanted the stage and didn't could be ", summed up the Balearic, who rises to sixth place. He will have to defend in the 1:11 time trial against Lutsenko to keep it.
The great victim of the passage through the Pyrenees is
Rigoberto Urán
, who in these two days has gone from second to tenth position.
In this Thursday's stage, he gave up on the Tourmalet, the first of the two ascents of a short Pyrenean stage and without much history until the final kilometer.
The interest in secondary rankings prevented a consistent breakaway from forming, and the lead-to-pack distance rarely reached the minute.
A rarity that detracted much appeal from a day that ended up being bland.
All against Pogacar
The
Ineos
tried to increase the pace in both the Tourmalet and Luz Ardiden, but could not do any damage, except for Urán. It has been a constant in this Tour of the most powerful team in the world. Except for
Jonathan Castroviejo
and
Carapaz
himself
, neither can be very satisfied with their performance in a race that until not too long ago was entirely their property thanks to
Chris Froome
who, by the way, is going to say goodbye to the Tour without being seen. . The British would do well to rethink his continuity in professional cycling, given what he has seen.
David Gaudu
, always combative, led the stage in the final ascent, aware that it was a matter of time before the squad ate him up. That happened 10 kilometers from the finish line, at the constant but not suffocating pace set by
Kwiatkowski
and
Geoghegan
. So the day progressed, between yawns on the other side of the television, until Pogacar got bored. He set
Rafal Majka
to shoot and with three kilometers left he dropped his blow. Only Carapaz, Vingegaard, Mas and
Sepp Kuss
endured his change of pace.
The
Jumbo
had two tricks to play with. One,
Kuss's, was
not going to intimidate
Pogacar
. But instead of throwing the American, he put him to throw. A missed opportunity, because with what was left, and enjoying the wild card of the time trial, the second place of Vingegaard in general was no longer at risk. But he apparently suffered for staying with the quartet, but with a kilometer to go he decided to attack. The Balearic Islands had nothing to lose and much to gain, for which the stage was a boost of self-esteem that he needed after his irregularity on this Tour.
Pogacar threw himself into his wheel and did not allow him joy.
The one from
Movistar
tried it again in the
absence of 700 meters, with even more determination, but history repeated itself.
The leader rejoined the head quartet and when there were 550 meters left he released a huge attack to which no one could respond.
"For me, cycling has been a game since I started cycling. And I still enjoy it just the same," says he, insatiable emperor of this Tour.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
sports
cycling
Tour de France
Tour de FrancePogacar sweeps the time trial and blows up the Tour
Tour de France 2021Van der Poel comes to grandfather Poulidor and pays off a debt with history
Tour de France Top 10 favorites to win the 2021 Tour de France
See links of interest
Last News
Tokyo 2021
2021 business calendar
Home THE WORLD TODAY
Master investigative journalism
Tour de France: stage 18, live: Pau - Luz Ardiden