DWhen Saint-Emilion was the destination of the penultimate stage of the 108th Tour de France, the imagination of the town’s dignitaries would be different. Such visits are expensive. The village with 2,000 inhabitants 30 kilometers east of Bordeaux does not lack this, because the wines produced in the surrounding famous vineyards are expensive, even expensive, and sold all over the world. The Saint-Emilion production area is a French institution, just like the Tour de France, so it can be well integrated.
The dignitaries had hoped that the entire cycling world would watch a tour in their village this Saturday.The 30.8 km time trial that started in Libourne may be the matchup of this tour, just like the Slovenian last year. Tadje Pogkar The (UAE) made a dramatic decision in the time trial of La Planche des Belles Filles in Vosges, taking off the yellow jersey from his compatriot Primoz Roglic and winning the tour.
The final stage of the trip to Paris on Sunday has traditionally been meaningless for the outcome of the three-week trip to France. Before the affairs of the sprinters on the Champs-Elysées became serious again, this was a stage of honor for the men in yellow.With the excitement of expectation and fanatical anticipation, it is nothing now Time trial In Saint-Emilion. The game was decided before it started. Last year’s champion Pogacar led by five minutes. If he was not struck by lightning on the way, his lead would be impeccable, even at his speed.
Before the race from Libourne to Saint-Emilion, Pogácar remained extremely cautious. “Sometimes there are bad days,” he said. “Of course you can lose six minutes, but I am full of confidence. We will see and hope that nothing will change.” This is an understatement. It is a quality you have never seen in Pogacar when the wheels are turning. Then he used a calm and natural driving, unparalleled habit, to send a signal to his opponent every moment: second place is also a good place, but it is not for me, only for you.
The itinerary has been set. The battle behind Pogacar is not over yet. Danish Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma team) is currently ranked second, 6 seconds ahead of Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadier). These are the two candidates for the position next to Pogacar on the podium in Paris. If you look at the performance of the first time trial on the fifth stage of this tour, Wenjiade should be vying for second place. In the first week, he fell behind champion Pogacar and Swiss Stefan Küng in third place. Carapaz was 1:44 minutes slow in the second quarter.
Who will get the second place?
If Wengard did not make a major mistake this Saturday, if he did not fall, he would face the biggest success of his career so far. At the beginning of the tour no one could have expected a success. His job for the Dutch Jumbo-Visma team initially was not to promote the overall ranking, but to assist his captain Roglic in the mountains. Vingegaard played the forward role only when Roglic had to leave due to a fall and injury. “This is a big learning curve for me,” he said. “Now I will try to keep my second place.”
Behind him and Karapas, there is another gap in the overall ranking. Fourth is Australian Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroen), followed by Dutch Wilco Kelderman, who leads the German team Bora-hansgrohe. O’Connor trailed Karapas by 2 points and 27 points and led Cadman by only 32 seconds. This gave Captain Bora, a powerful time racer, the opportunity to rise to at least fourth place. “I will try, and if it is unsuccessful, fifth place is fine,” he said.
The fourth place is equivalent to the best result ever achieved by the German racing team. In 2019, Emmanuel Buchmann finished fourth in Paris. For Bora-hansgrohe, despite the failure of sprint star Peter Sagan (Peter Sagan), but repeating this result will successfully complete the Tour de France.
Niels Pollet and Patrick Conrad had previously won two stages in spectacular runaway fashion. At the last difficult stage in the Pyrenees on Thursday, Cadman stood up again after a fall. When he reached the peak of Luz Ardiden at the same time as O’Connor, he lost to ninth in only 34 seconds. The champion Pogacar.
Obviously the favorite is who else, Pogacar, enters the time trial. This is his favorite subject. Now I have to say: this is one of his favorite subjects. In Paris, he will also get the best climber jersey. Time trials and mountain races-these have always been the elements of a tournament winner. Even a 22-year-old racer, Pogacar reminds people of great champions, Merckx, Hinault, Indurain. And Armstrong.
