alpine triptych, hunter and tandem

• Today’s stage: Oyonnax – Le Grand-Bornand, 150.8 kilometers

After an overheated river stage – over 30 ° C – enlivened by the relays supported by the Mathieu Van der Poel yellow jersey in the breakaway, the peloton arrived at the foot of the Alps on Saturday 3 July. A first contact with the high mountains between Oyonnax (Ain) and Le Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie), whose start on a hill gives the start of a 100% alpine weekend.

As in 2009 and 2018, the arrival of the eighth stage in Grand-Bornand will be conditioned by the sequence of the Romme and Colombière passes (respectively at 8.9% and 8.5% on average), doubled this year a third first category obstacle at Mont-Saxonnex (5.7 km at 8.3%).

The steep and technical descents of Haute-Savoie will not offer much respite. An explosive final swallowed on a large plateau that could smile to backpackers-climbers, as to puncher Julian Alaphilippe. The world champion might want to repeat his solo number in Le Grand-Bornand, which had revealed it on the 2018 Tour.

• The rider to watch: Thomas De Gendt

“Gendt attack! “. Because he likes to emerge from the peloton as soon as the road rises, the Belgian Thomas De Gendt could return to victory on the roads of the Tour this Saturday. Mute during the last edition, the runner of the Lotto Soudal, blocked from the back, had nothing to hope for.

This time, after the abandonment of its leader Caleb Ewan, victim of a fall during the sprint of the third stage, the adventurer with predispositions for the bumps can fully don his stage hunter costume. In Oyonnax, the Belgian could well hook up the wagon of the morning breakaway, then beat his opponents to wear and tear, as usual.

If his legs respond well to the change of gear, the 34-year-old bearded man would win his third success on the Grande Boucle, after those at Mont Ventoux in 2016 and at Saint-Etienne in 2019, where he was ahead of the peloton by six seconds at the end. of a breakaway of two hundred kilometers. Will the Belgian’s experience and daring be enough to contain the fiery legs of the Slovenian nugget Tadej Pogacar?

Eliminated from Euro football, Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak got on a bicycle. Helmet, sunglasses and mountains on his back, the Atlético de Madrid goalkeeper took a selfie to encourage his compatriots on the Tour. “I hope to see the Slovenian flag on the podium in Paris, like last year”, he tweeted on Friday July 2nd.

Red polka dots in the absence of yellow. Thursday 1^er July, the least expected Slovenian won the longest stage of the 2021 Tour and the best climber’s jersey. Starting before the top of the Uchon signal, the main difficulty of the day, the Bahrain Victorious rider, Matej Mohoric, won his first solo victory on the Grande Boucle. Dropped by his teammates in the Morvan, the runner-up in the 2020 Tour Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) concedes almost four additional minutes over his main competitors. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) saved himself on the eve of the first mountain stage.

“We were left with the responsibility of the escape hunt because I am supposedly the strongest, but I am not necessarily the strongest”

After his show of force in the individual time trial on Wednesday June 30, Tadej Pogacar had disgusted the competition – and the public -, who saw the suspense already folded after five days of racing. “Year 2032. Evenepoel and Pogacar each won six Tours”, had ironically tweeted Thomas De Gendt.

Yesterday, however, the young Slovenian’s team was in difficulty. After padlocking the breakaways, the UAE Team Emirates train let some thirty riders slip away, including Wout van Aert, leader Mathieu Van der Poel and Vincenzo Nibali. A block, the leading group rolled at more than 51 km / h on average during the first hundred kilometers and counted up to seven minutes ahead of the peloton. Behind, the teammates of Tadej Pogacar ensured a moderate tempo. Result: the winner of the 2020 Tour crossed the finish line three minutes and thirty-five seconds after the yellow jersey. “Van Aert is riding very well, Van der Poel too. You shouldn’t give them ten minutes, it’s dangerous ”, the Slovenian warned after the race.

The peloton was to remain screwed 6 hours and 30 minutes on the pedals Thursday, but these two decided otherwise, and the stage was finally completed in 5 hours and 28 minutes. After forty kilometers and ten unsuccessful breakaways, the Belgian champion, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), managed to extricate himself from a very stretched peloton. The yellow jersey in person, Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), chased him, before being joined by twenty-seven other riders.

Eight kilometers from the finish, the unexpected Van der Poel-Van Aert tandem has reformed. An alliance of circumstance to allow the first to keep his yellow tunic and the second to distance the candidates for final victory.