Christian Prudhomme, the boss of the Tour de France, could not imagine that a curtain of rain added to the pace and nervousness of the peloton during the third stage, Monday June 28 between Lorient and Pontivy (Morbihan), would blacken the idyllic picture which had been taking shape since the great departure from Brest: five falls, affected favorites and many voices rising to warn against a sport that had become “Dangerous” and unconscious Tour organizers.
The pace and nervousness in the peloton were already there from the inaugural stage, marked by two impressive collective falls. But the trio of punchers who reign supreme over the “classics” – the French Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step), the Belgian Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and the Dutch Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) – for which the first two dates of this 108e Grande Boucle were thought of, had answered present.
And if the story seemed written in advance, it did not fail to thrill the audience. Only one question was asked: of these two preliminary tortures that were the Fosse-aux-Loups (Finistère) and the Mûr-de-Bretagne (Côtes-d’Armor), which would emerge the strongest?
It is said that the Tour is also a test of developed power statistics: with Julian Alaphilippe, who combines, as in motorsports, an exceptional power-to-weight ratio. The reigning world champion, by removing, on Saturday, the inaugural stage between Brest and Landerneau after an attack launched from the foot of the Fosse-aux-Loups (score of 3e category), had also realized that he had only one equal: Mathieu van der Poel, “VDP”.
National affiliation
The Frenchman is then in yellow all day Sunday. Then loses it at 5:30 p.m. in favor of “VDP”. However, on the side of the roads, we lent ourselves to dreaming of a scenario “To 2019” – when the runner had kept the precious tunic on his shoulders for fourteen days. But Sunday was Dutch. The grandson of the legendary Raymond Poulidor ignited fans. Especially those of “Cyclism-nostalgia”.
By winning at Mûr-de-Bretagne, “VDP” succeeded where its illustrious ancestor failed: to put on the yellow jersey. “Poupou” never had the honors. There again, the feeling that the fairy tale was announced, but that it would also affect only vestibular heroes knowing that these punchers, once the mountain looms, will slip away in favor of more complete runners.
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