The Pogacar-Vingegaard duel is still the big theme.
– It is still the Tour de France of the duel between Pogacar and Vingegaardwho still travels on the edge of seconds: they were 17 ahead for the Dane last week, now they have become 10, moved mostly by time bonuses. Handsome he continues to have an extra gear in the dry sprint, in the whipping like a classic addict, which Vingegaard doesn’t have in his ropes, but on the long climbs the Dane compensates with a very high and regular pace. We will already have the first answers on the ending of this story from tomorrow’s time trial, when – for the first time since Bilbao, excluding a few handfuls of kilometers in the first week – these two will not be able to exchange glances for the entire length of the course. To date, the favorite remains Pogacar, but he has to figure out who has more legs left, and this is a big dilemma;
– Behind the two champions, peeps out the young but imposing figure of Carlos Rodríguez Cano, Spanish INEOS class 2001 rider, in the second Grand Tour of his career (7th at the 2022 Vuelta). He is the only one who, at times, manages to keep the wheels of the other two, and he does so with a class that leaves no doubt: we are dealing with a rider who will occupy several podiums in the GTs of the 1920s. The team whose shirt he wears rarely makes these choices wrong: with Egan Bernal (slowly recovering in this Tour, after a year and a half of ordeal) they had found the rider on which to build a generation of stage races, before the dramatic accident that in January 2022 could cost the Colombian his life and career. Before figuring out if and when Bernal will return to the levels he deserves, INEOS covered itself with the growth of CRC, certified by the victory in Morzine in which it beat Pogacar and Vingegaard (second consecutive stage victory for the English giant, after that of eternal Kwiatkowski on the Grand Colombier);
– Speaking of Spain, an immaculate week for the Iberian colors (especially for theBasque flag): stage victories for Pello Bilbao – con dedicates to the late Gino Mader and doubling of the money destined for the planting of a forest in the Basque Country in his memory – Ion Izagirre and Rodriguez himself. A dream hat-trick, after an eternal fast of victories; a hat-trick that dwarfs aItaly that remains at the post and consoles itself with the polka dot shirt worn by a Ciccone often present in the escapes, strong-willed and courageous, but who leaves the fate of his shirt to the will of the two most holy mother to let go of fugues in the third week. Back to Spain: between Ayuso, Rodriguez and Enric Mas, the legacy of Alberto Contador is more than secure;
– The only virtually closed speech is the one for the green jersey: Jasper Philipsen created a chasm behind him, especially thanks to the imperious poker in the sprint. The fourth signing on his Tour de France comes without the assist of Mathieu van der Poel, to underline an indisputable superiority, without what if or shaded areas.
– Wout Van Aert’s technical ordeal has no end, who runs very well, all too well, but fails to get out of the dimension of the eternal place, even in the individual stages. He impresses everyone on the Joux Plane by going up the group like a moped to eliminate Majka from the group, on the “day of freedom that one has” – or that Vingegaard gives him, it would be better to say in this case – he goes on the run, takes away the right group with Soler and Poels but has to surrender to the other Wout, Poels, taking another 2nd place. He is 4th in the points standings, 5th in the GPM standings: “ah, if there was still the combined standings” one would think. And instead placed in luxury there too: if there were, he would be 3rd behind, well, those two. Speaking of Van Aert, he hears the luxury wingmen. Him, of course, but also Adam Yates and Sepp Kuss, respectively 4th and 6th in the general standings. Excellent last men for Pogacar and Vingegaard, both in the prime of their careers. If Adam made several Grand Tours as captain, it would be intriguing to see what effect captaining the three weeks would have on the American.