Vingegaad resisted Pogacar’s double attack on the Alpe d’Huez with Pidcock’s great victory

Some of the best quotes in the history of cycling were written on 21 curves, on 21 horseshoes of climbing on Alpe d’Huez. A special port of the category that is not the hardest that cyclists can face, but perhaps it is one that values ​​a special magic and mysticism. Not in vain this Thursday, in that regard queen stage of the 109th edition of the Tour de Francethis is the 31st time the Alpe d’Huez has been climbed after its premiere in 1952 with success dand Fausto Coppiat the first hilltop finish in the history of the Tour de France.

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On the day of the national holiday in France, again the 21-turn snake in the 13.8-kilometer climb summoned a large crowd, in another characteristic of the Alpe d’Huez, to the point that it was sometimes feared for its integrity. of cyclists. But the race, the queen day of this Tour, is 165 kilometers apart Briancon and Alpe d’Huezwith a 4,660 meter difference in altitude, began to cook over a slow fire -and no better to say because of the temperatures recorded- that the first ascent of a day brought them, with the climbing the three ports considered Hors Categorie, the highest: Col du Galibier, Cabbage of Croix de Fer and the aforementioned Alpe d’Huez.

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American departure no pow he was the first to reach a few meters ahead, and they would quickly join him Oliveira, Perez, Goossens, Louvel, and Schönberger.. They gradually landed thanks to the platoon’s permission and were the first to pass to the top of Galibier (23 km to 5.1%) is the Frenchman Pérez. Two kilometers from the crown jumped from the discipline of the group a recovered Chris Froomesends beautiful sensations that he will show to the rest of the stage.

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On the descent of Galibier the british looks like a rocket pidcock, giving a lesson on how to descend and draw curves, he reached the height of all the rivals ahead of him, forming after this descent a group of nine runners directly towards Iron Cross (29 km at 5.2%), while behind the team Jumbo-Visma controlled the situation with apparent ease, with the DSM’s Romain Bardet at the steering wheel, with Pogacar slightly behind and well -positioned with Movistar.

Ciccone was the first to climb the Croix de Fer, with a 4’28 “margin in the group of mlos nbotables. The difference reached a 6’10” margin where the escapees reached the feet of Alpe d’Huez. The speed was frenetic, and again Pidcock gave a lesson that went down more than 100 km / h. The Olympic mountain bike champion looked fit and 10 kilometers from the finish line, the Ineros rider launched his attack. Meintjes and Froome They tried to follow him, but when they saw Pidcock’s trend, they decided to set a ‘comfortable’ climbing rate so as not to get discouraged. No one can beat a British runner who, at the age of 22, became the youngest runner in Tour history to be crowned a colossus like Alpe d’Huez in first position, in his second success as a professional. .

Jumbo-Visma, the Dutch version of Sky

From behind, Jumbo-Visma tightened the rope. He put the whole team to work as a block, as Ineos did a few years ago, and the less powerful rivals give time and let themselves fall like Nairo Quintana, Romain Bardet or David Gaudu. Van Aert was the first of the Jumbos to speed up the climb, then it was the turn of the Kruijswick, Roglic and Kuss. The superiority of the Dutch team is insulting.

Another day Pogacar was alone in the face of danger, at the stage he did Enrique More endured the kind and included the best. Tadej kept his word the day before and on two occasions attacked and tried to sit down a Vingegaardwho responded to the attacks and overwhelmingly, responded with amazing ease to these two hurries (3.2 and 1.3 from the finish line), showing that he wore yellow for a reason and that it wasn’t easy for him to pick it up from a Pogacar who lost a team manager and trusted man at the start of the stage, Matxin, by Covid and he must continue to seek from a leader who at the moment shows himself to be very, very solid; but many more Tours left.