Martin Lange with AFP / Photo credit: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP
They are inseparable: Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar failed to decide on Sunday in Saint-Gervais where Wout Poels won. Ten seconds still separate the two big favorites of the Tour before a time trial which could be decisive on Tuesday in Combloux. Behind, the French who approach the last week of the Tour with ambition.
It’s a rest day for the Tour de France peloton this Monday, after a lively stage. Dutchman Wout Poels won the 15th stage of the Tour de France by winning alone at the top of Saint-Gervais on Sunday where Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar failed to decide. Ten seconds still separate the two big favorites in the general classification who crossed the line side by side, about six minutes behind the winner, who started in the breakaway of the day. The French are further back, at the bottom of the top 10, but are approaching the last week of the Tour with ambition.
Gaudu close to the best
Marc Madiot jokes with his leader David Gaudu. The entire Groupama FDJ team was smiling again on Sunday. Suffering for several days, dropped at the start of the stage, the Breton clung on and finished very close to the best. “It’s reassuring, you have to do the accounts at the end and not at the start, you will have to be very strong in your head again over the last week”, he confides at the microphone of Europe 1.
This Monday, Gaudu is ninth overall, just ahead of another Frenchman, Guillaume Martin. They are in an identical position, too far from the podium to dream of it and at the same time too close to benefit from a good exit, especially on such a homogeneous Tour. “Now that he is close to the top ten, he would prefer to win a stage and finish 12th. But we see that winning the stages, on the days when Guillaume is in front, it’s complicated because we are dealing with super climbers They are the best runners in the world,” explains Cédric Vasseur, Guillaume Martin’s manager. Martin, who still managed to escape all weekend, without success for the moment. But the Tour is still long with two beautiful mountain stages next Wednesday and Saturday.