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The attack: For Marc Hirschi, catching up was not enough. When he caught up with leader Marc Soler, he passed directly and took the lead. The 22-year-old Swiss climbed only Suc au May and increased his lead on the descent to 40 seconds. Nobody could catch up in the last 20 kilometers, Hirschi was too good to tread, his posture was reminiscent of a time trial. In the last kilometer he realized his success, smiled, radioed his team again and then happily crossed the finish line.
All the good things: Hirschi had already come close to a stage victory twice: in Nice he lost in the sprint to Julian Alaphilippe, in Laruns he raced to third place after a 100km solo breakout. “I was so close twice,” Hirschi said after his victory: “On the bike, I always doubted if I could win. I had the images of the last two times in the back of my mind. Only in the last kilometer did I think I could win. do what “. For Hirschi, the success of the day’s tour was the first professional victory in a career. Many more could follow given the strong solo trip.
Stage result: Hirschi won the twelfth stage of the Tour de France in front of a group of pursuers of which Pierre Rolland and Sören Kragh Andersen placed second and third. The yellow jersey stays with Primoz Roglic from the Jumbo-Visma team. Read the stage report here.
Bye: With the 218 kilometers from Chauvigny to Sarran Corrèze, the riders now have the longest leg of this year’s tour behind them. In historical comparison, it was a piece of cake. The longest stage in history was more than double 482 kilometers. The drivers covered the route from Les Sables d’Olonne to Bayonne several times between 1919 and 1924. The first winner in 1919 was Frenchman Jean Alavoine; It took almost 19 hours to arrive.
Hunting on stage: The mountainous profile with four mountain classifications seemed made for a large breakaway group. Four riders led by German pro Nils Politt made the jump early, but they weren’t mountain-proof enough. Later, they attacked the horsemen who were better able to scale the short but poisonous climbs. Alaphilippe was unable to break away decisively, but Bora pro Maximilian Schachmann could. Even the German stage hunter couldn’t keep up with Hirschi’s outing at the Suc au May. Hirschi’s teammates from the German Sunweb team had put him in a good position and he completed the squad.
Memory and Poupou: He was the man “who never won the Tour de France.” Raymond Poulidor finished eight times in his career on the Tour de France podium, three times he was second and five times third. Between 1962 and 1974 he won seven stages. But he never wore the yellow shirt. However, “Poupou”, as he was affectionately known, was one of the most popular sportsmen in France. Poulidor died last November at the age of 83. Now the Tour de France remembered Poulidor as he passed through his old home, Saint Léonard de Noblat.
Relaxed crown rule: If there are two or more corona cases in a team with supervisors and drivers within seven days, the team will be completely excluded from the tour, in accordance with the rule. Last Tuesday, four crown cases were reported to four different teams, including Ineos. During the upcoming tests on Monday, they should have been particularly concerned about continuing their journey. Now, the tour organizers have decided that all teams will start from scratch on Monday, so the seven-day rule does not apply. However, if there are two positive cases on a team within a test series, the team must withdraw.
Friday the 13th: “With 4,400 meters of elevation gain, it is heavier than all the others,” writes route director Thierry Gouvenou in the tour program on Friday’s stage 13. There are a total of seven mountain classifications that must be mastered over the length of 191.5 kilometers. In the end, a mountain arrival at Puy Mary awaits in the Massif Central. It will be interesting to see if the qualifying drivers will attack the man in yellow, Primoz Roglic, here. The weekend is not easier with the arrival at the Grand Colombier on Sunday.
