MeterAt the end of his victory, Atej Mohoric knocked his jersey demonstratively and placed his index finger on his lips provocatively. Less than 40 hours after his team Bahrain-Victorious conducted a night doping check, the Slovenian champion celebrated his second individual stage victory in the Tour de France in Libourne, hoping to use him Cheers to condemn all critics.
“I am disappointed with this system. When the police stand in your room rummaging for your things, it’s not good. They will even check their personal belongings and read the news on their phones,” said Friday from Mulenque. Said the winner the next day after 207 kilometers from Libourne to Libourne. On Thursday night, the prosecutor’s office in Marseille, Pau, searched the Arab Cycling Team’s hotel room for alleged doping use until two o’clock in the morning.
Nothing was found to confirm the suspicion, which is why the team was allowed to continue. In Bahrain-Victorious, you see yourself being treated unfairly and becoming a victim of your own success. “I feel like a criminal,” the winner complained. The photo of the Pyrenees reappeared in his mind in the last 1,000 meters, at which time his victory was confirmed.
“You found nothing with us. We have nothing to hide.” Despite all the turbulence, the winner was beaming, and the Slovenian festival with him and Tadej Pogacar (yellow jersey and three victories) was going on happily. However, on the other hand, “It is a good thing to be careful and control such things so that no one can cheat,” Mohorick commented on the raid.
The record hunter Mark Cavendish and the German birthday boy André Greipel, who have not yet achieved a magical victory on the 35th day, missed the 19th stage. They rushed through with the main force 20 minutes behind. Finish line. In the separation group, four Germans competed for victory in Nils Politt (5th place), Georg Zimmermann (8th place), Maximilian Walscheid (12th place) and Jonas Rutsch (15th place).
The “King of the Cavaliers”, who caught up with the cycling legend Eddie Merkex in this tour, did not get a fifth chance in the Volkswagen final he had previously won. Five-time championship winner Merck (Merckx) has put it in his eyes: “You can’t compare it. I drove 2,800 kilometers in the wind alone, Cavendish 6 seconds.” However, it started on stage 19. Before, the two had embraced enthusiastically. Gleipel, who has been 39 years old since Friday, has to wait until the 21st stage, which is also the final stage. In the current tour, he has not yet reached the podium.
Not even on Friday, because it was a time of out-of-control. After several days of torment in the Pyrenees, this time it was Mohoric who won the brave attack of this group. Christophe Laporte from France and Casper Pedersen from Denmark ranked second and third respectively.
The last song in Paris
Another feature of the tour is to withdraw for the Olympics. After Dutchman Mathieu van der Pol and Italian Vincenzo Nibali, Miguel Angel Lopez and Michael Woods are now also leaving the game. The Colombians and Canadians want to be reborn before heading to Japan, and think there is no point in having two flat stages and a time trial.
The yellow operator Pogacar will definitely go to Paris, and he will enter the time trial with a big lead on Saturday. If the strong team Slovenian has nothing to do on the weekend of the final, he will not only win the championship jersey, but also the white jersey of the best young professional player and the polka dot jersey of the best climber, just like in 2020. The fight against time is about who can accompany Pogacar on the podium in central Paris on Sunday.
On the last leg of the journey to Paris, it should once again be mainly about the record-setting pursuit of veteran Cavendish. If the Englishman wins the legendary Champs Elysées, he will not only have the green jersey of the best sprinter, but also a stage record of 35 victories per day on the tour. This is also the Belgian legend Eddie Merck. Kers has maintained 34 victories for decades. The last chance awaits German veteran Greipel.
