André Greipel was also in the spectator role on his birthday, record hunter Mark Cavendish has to wait at least until Sunday for the longed-for number 35: The sprint veterans missed out on the 19th stage of the Tour de France and now have all their hopes for the big one Set final in Paris.
On the 207 kilometers from Mourenx to Libourne instead, the Slovenian Matej Mohoric won on Friday from a 20-man escape group that had formed over 100 kilometers from the finish and separated from the peloton by around 20 minutes at the end.
After Fougères, Châteauroux, Valence and Carcassonne, “King Cav”, who had caught up with cycling legend Eddy Merckx during the course of this tour, did not get a fifth chance in a mass final, all of which he had previously won.
The five-time overall winner Merckx had already put it into perspective: “You can't compare it.
I drove 2800 kilometers alone in the wind, Cavendish six seconds. ”Before the start of the 19th stage, however, the two had hugged each other warmly.
Greipel, who has been 39 years old since Friday and whose team missed the jump into the escape group, has to wait until the 21st and last stage.
The birthday child has not yet achieved a podium position on the current tour.
But on Friday the hour of the runaway struck. After days of torture in the Pyrenees, this time it was Mohoric who prevailed with a courageous attack from the group. Christophe Laporte from France and the Dane Casper Pedersen made it onto the day podium. Despite the difficult week, the field rushed through France at high speed and crossed the finish line much earlier than expected by the organizers. Mohoric won his second stage on this tour, his compatriot Tadej Pogacar won three more sections.
This year's tour is also characterized by early withdrawals in favor of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. After the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who put an end to the race after losing the yellow jersey in the Alps, and the Italian Vincenzo Nibali on the second day of rest, Miguel Angel Lopez and Michael Woods now also left the race. The Colombian and the Canadian want to regenerate before the trip to Japan and after the end of the torment in the Pyrenees saw no point in doing two flat stages and a time trial.
The yellow carrier Pogacar, who is going into the time trial on Saturday with a big lead, will definitely go through to Paris. If nothing happens to the strong Slovenian on the weekend of the final, he will, like in 2020, not only win the winner's jersey, but also the white jersey of the best young professional and the dotted jersey of the best climber. The fight against the clock is all about who can accompany Pogacar on Sunday in the center of Paris on the podium.
On the final stretch to Paris, it should again be largely about the record hunt of veteran Cavendish. If the Briton wins the legendary Champs-Élysées, he not only owns the green jersey of the best sprinter, but also the stage record of the tour with 35 daily victories, which Belgium legend Eddy Merckx held for several decades with 34 victories. The last chance awaits Germany’s veteran Greipel.