Andorran rest, hecatomb and French disappointment

• Today’s stage: no stage

After two weeks marked by falls, incredible scenarios and long breakaways, the riders still remaining on this tour will be entitled to a second day of rest, Monday July 12. This will take place in Andorra, where they arrived on Sunday at the end of a stage which saw the solo victory of the American Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), ahead of the stainless Alejandro Valverde, 41 spring on the clock.

For this new day of rest, each runner is free enough for his day: bike ride to keep the pace, massage, rest at the hotel … But everyone will have in mind to rest before facing the Pyrenean stages planned for the three coming days, which are still likely to do a lot of damage.

A massacre in the peloton. Never since 2012 had there been so many retirements during the Tour de France. The most recent: French sprinter Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic), Sunday during the 15^e stage, and the Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen (TotalEnergies), who arrived late. The Vosges did not recover from his fall on Friday on the road to Carcassonne with about twenty riders, including his teammate Warren Barguil, who did not leave Saturday morning. After these two withdrawals, there are only three riders left in the Arkéa-Samsic team: Elie Gesbert, Nairo Quintana and Connor Swift.

With 37 withdrawals and deadlines since the start on June 26 in Brest, there are therefore only 148 elements left in the ranks. We have to go back to the Tour de France 2012 to find as many forced starts: there were 35 of them to have left the Grande Boucle after 14 stages. The numerous falls during the first Breton stages notably explain the significant figure for this year.

“I saw my parents on the last climb, it made it easier”

Lonely, attacked, but always first, without forcing. The yellow jersey, Tadej Pogacar, could have known some difficulties when approaching the last pass of the stage on Sunday. He was indeed without teammates – all gave way – and was at the mercy of attacks from his pursuers, which were numerous. Uran, Carapaz, Vingegaard, O’Connor… They all tried their luck, but the Slovenian has always managed to respond to these attacks.

And according to him, his performance is also due to… his parents. “I saw my parents on the last climb, it made it easier, he declared on arrival. When I saw them, I forgot for a few moments that we were all in pain. The whole peloton is tired, me first. ” Even if it doesn’t show much.

The disappointment of the day is for the French Guillaume Martin. Second in the general classification on Sunday morning before starting this 15^e stage, he will tackle the last week of the Tour at the 9^e square. The start of the stage had started well for the climber from Cofidis, in contact with the favorites.

But he was let go on the descent between the Envalira and Beixalis passes. Despite the help of his teammate Ruben Fernandez, he never managed to return to the yellow jersey group and thus concedes four minutes on all the favorites. But it is perhaps a bad for a good for the Frenchman. While his ambition at the start of this Tour was to win a stage rather than play the general, his disappointment yesterday will perhaps give him more leeway to attack in the Pyrenees.