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The endurance test: At the Col de Peyresourde you had to ask yourself in the group of favorites who really wears the yellow jersey. Tadej Pogacar attacked, Primoz Roglic followed. Nairo Quintana led the way, Primoz Roglic followed him. Guillaume Martin attacked, Primoz Roglic followed. Overall leader Adam Yates, on the other hand, kept backing down and last year’s winner, Egan Bernal, struggled too. Roglic showed why he is considered one of the top favorites to win the Tour de France. This way, it’s only a matter of time before I take Yates’s yellow jersey off.
Am I limit? “At some point the pace was a little too fast, there were attacks from the left and right, I relaxed a little bit,” Yates said at the end: “I think everyone was at their limit today.” Roglic, on the other hand, was asked why he hadn’t consistently competed for the yellow jersey. “It was a fast pace,” replied the Jumbo-Visma captain. “But it was the first mountain stage and there is still a long way to go.” That didn’t seem like his limit.
The result of the stage: Nans Peters was the first driver to cross the finish line more than six minutes before the favorites. The French won the 141-kilometer first stage in the Pyrenees from Cazères-sur-Garonne to Loudenvielle. All qualifying jerseys stayed with their previous owners. Read the stage report here.
Goat breed: Along with Ilnur Zakarin, Peters had parted ways with an originally 13-person separatist group. “I knew Zakarin was better than me on the climbs,” Peters said. “But I saw on the descent from Port de Balès that I was going downhill like a goat.” And Peters should know. After all, he has the rare given name Nans because his mother is a fan of the 1970s television series “Nans le berger.” Translated: “Nans the shepherd”. In any case, Peters left his pursuer Zakarin behind on the descent and drove alone to victory at Loudenvielle.
Corona rules for the tour: The number of new corona infections in France peaked on Friday. 8,975 cases were officially registered in 24 hours. However, fans can still come to the Tour de France route. Not everyone meets the distance and mask requirements. The Drivers Association (CPA) therefore again appealed to viewers to take responsibility. And professional Daryl Impey wrote: “If you come to the streets, protect everyone. Bring your masks and wear them when you cheer us on.” On Saturday, however, many fans could be seen at Col de Peyresourde, some of them getting very close to the riders.
Pinot disappoints: Thibaut Pinot has been France’s hope of winning the Tour for years. But wounds always destroy your dreams. So this year too. In the Pyrenees, the 30-year-old fell behind the pack, surrounded by his Groupama-FDJ teammates. “My back hurt so much that I had no strength,” said Pinault: “I couldn’t pedal.” He crossed the finish line nearly 19 minutes later than Yates’ group. Team Principal Marc Madiot explained: “We managed to silence the injury for a few days, but in a scenario like this it is not possible to hide.”
Back to reality: Emanuel Buchmann couldn’t keep up with the best either, but his deficit was limited. “That is not what I wanted and how I would like to drive, but it probably won’t be any better after the crash,” said the Bora-hansgrohe captain. After Buchmann got off to a bad start on tour, he’s been feeling better recently. But that’s obviously not enough for the fight for yellow. Buchmann is now in eleventh place, more than a minute behind Yates.
Journey to youth: Pavel Sivakov is struggling to fulfill his childhood dream, his first Tour de France. The Team Ineos assistant suffers the consequences of several crashes, making him last in the general classification. But that did not reduce the 23-year-old’s anticipation for the eighth stage in his home region. Because Sivakov, who has Russian and French citizenship, grew up in Haute Garonne. “It doesn’t matter how good or bad I act today,” Sivakov tweeted: “I will enjoy every pedal stroke during this stage.”
Pyrenees, the second: On Sunday, the second stage in the Pyrenees runs 153 kilometers from Pau to Laurans, with a total of five mountain classifications. The toughest tests are two mountains in the first category. There could be attacks again before the first day of rest on Monday.
