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They say that one of the best views in all of France is from the top of the Grand Colombier, the nearly mile-high pyramid on the southern edge of the Jura Mountains, overlooking Mont Blanc, the Alps and the Rhone Valley. Sunday’s Stage 15 finale also provided a pretty clear picture of this year’s Tour de France, in green, white and yellow.
After the suitably yellow train that is Team Jumbo-Visma climbed safely to the top in its yellow jersey, leaving only a dozen riders in contention, Primoz Roglic again denied a second stage victory at the This year’s tour by his young Slovenian understudy Tadej Pogacar. , who in a close replay to the action at the end of last Sunday’s stage in the Pyrenees, passed quickly in the final meters.
At 21, now practically certain of wearing the white jersey as the best young rider until Paris, it may be only a matter of time before Pogacar wears the yellow jersey on a future Tour; For this year, although he is still only 40 seconds ahead of UAE-Team Emirates driver Rogloc, 30, still appears to have enough strength to stay in yellow.
After losing a riveting battle for points on Saturday, conceding 23 to Peter Sagan, Sam Bennett is still winning the war for the green jersey, stealing two points from Sagan in Sunday’s 58km intermediate sprint, which came before 3pm. three climbs in the 175.4 km of Lyon, and now he has a 45 point advantage, 269 to 224.
With the 16 percent time limit on stage, from there on, Bennett’s main concern was finishing in 43 minutes 52 seconds, which he did comfortably, again aided by his Deceuninck-Quick Step teammates, finishing. 153rd in the day. 38:57 behind.
Bennett took his time for good reason: known as the pyramid given its four clear sides, the end of the stage partially skirted three sides of the Colombier on the 17.4 km journey to the actual summit, some of the final ramps with an uphill slope of 22%. the biggest loser was undoubtedly defending champion Egan Bernal, who fell with 12.9 km to go, eventually finishing seven minutes and 20 seconds less.
That also knocked the Team Ineos-Grenadiers rider out of the top 10 and out of contention, now 13th, 8:25 away, while Britain’s Adam Yates enjoyed another good day in and out of the saddle, finishing. eighth on stage and moving. up to fifth place overall, with EF Pro Cycling’s Rigoberto Uran, ninth of the day, now third overall, 1:34 behind.
Another of the Colombians, Nairo Quintana, also lost 3:50 on the last climb, dropping four places to ninth overall: the twisted Colombian, absent from crowds due to Covid-19 restrictions in the province, which he does not satisfy. both Colombians and some. thought.
Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar celebrates his victory on stage 15 of the Tour de France, ahead of Primoz Roglic in the yellow jersey. Photograph: Christophe Petit-Tesson / EPA
Before the final of stage 9 last Sunday in the southwest of the Pyrenees, no cyclist from Slovenia, the semi-Balkan nation of just over two million inhabitants, had won the leader’s yellow jersey, and it is difficult to see Roglic give up after the second day of rest on Monday, before. the six remaining stages. It was here that Roglic already informed the world of his superiority over Bernal when he resumed racing at the Tour de l’Ain last month, winning the stage while Bernal similarly faded.
Dan Martin, after his excellent effort in 11th place on Friday, had another good race and finished the stage in 21st position, 5:14 less, and is now 27th overall, with the promise of some stage challenges in the Alps. Nicolas Roche finished the day 86th, 33:51 behind, and is now 72nd overall.
After Monday’s rest day, there are three great Alpine mountain stages in a row, and the end of Friday’s stage 19 in Champagnole may throw in some big green spots, before the grand final on the Champs-Elysées next Sunday.
Stage 14 on Saturday turned out to be a veritable rollercoaster before the finish line in Lyon, Denmark’s Soren Kragh Andersen came out in front of the leading group just over 2km from the finish to claim his first Tour stage win, Bennett long ago who distanced himself in the second. group. Sagan was in fourth place, scoring just 18 points over Bennett, having earned another five points in the intermediate sprint, making him 23 points for the day.
Bennett admitted that part of the challenge between here and Paris will be timing his effort against Sagan: “We’ll see him again, on the rest day,” he said. “It’s also about calculating the effort on the road. Yesterday (Saturday) they (Bora-Hansgrohe) were making a great, great effort, so I let them go because I wanted to save my legs for the longer climb that would come later.
“I didn’t get over the longest climb in the end, but I almost did, so it was about being smart and using energy wisely. That’s what every Grand Tour is about. Preserving energy when you can and using it when necessary. Once the climbs came, it was about surviving. I definitely wouldn’t be in this position without my teammates, they’re doing a fantastic job and I can’t thank them enough.
“So it looks better, but there is still a long way to go. Paris definitely feels a bit closer, just five road stages and a time trial. So it doesn’t seem that far away, but a lot can also happen in those days. “
When asked if Sagan or the Alps would be the biggest challenge between here and Paris, Bennett said: “Ah, the mountains, because I have to finish them first. I think yesterday (Saturday) was a good day, a change from the previous day, I felt very strong. The day before (Friday) was hell. I think on Saturday we limit our losses, the legs are good and the morale is good. I am enjoying the battle and having a lot of fun. We are taking each day as it comes and often you do the best you can, but right now everything looks good, but many things can change in the next few days. “
In fact, for now, at least the Tour looks pretty perfect in green, white, and yellow.
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