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The cycling team of Primoz Roglic and Tom Dumoulin showed their strengths in the first mountain final of the Tour de France: not only the two leaders are in excellent shape, but also the assistants.
Primoz Roglic
Before the start of the season, Tony Martin spoke seriously of wanting to end his career soon. He is already 35 years old and his great successes in the time trial were several years ago.
Everything Martin said in winter can be safely forgotten for the time being. On Tuesday, the man who had never played a major role on the mountain before achieved four climbs at the front of the field during the fourth stage of the Tour de France. He then reached such a fast pace on the steep corners that led to the finish at Orcières-Merlette that the ranks of drivers lost contact. Just 6 kilometers before the end, Martin fell back. You feel like riding your bike again. He has just extended his contract until the end of 2022.
Parallel to the sky
The German is one of those drivers from the Jumbo-Visma team who has been terrorizing the competition since the beginning of August, since the end of the Corona break. No one is surprised that the two captains Primoz Roglic and Tom Dumoulin are doing well. But now the helpers also grow beyond themselves.
Belgian Wout van Aert had no chance against Mathieu van der Poel in his winter cross bike parade. Since August 1, he has won two of the most important one-day races, Strade Bianche and Milan – Sanremo. In his current condition, Van Aert could presumably destroy Peter Sagan in the battle for the green jersey if he wanted to, but he’s also serving the bosses at Jumbo-Visma. On Tuesday, the 25-year-old set a pace so high to 1,400 meters that no one dared to attack.
Another example is American Sepp Kuss, who took the lead when Van Aert fell back: he was supposed to position leader Roglic for sprints in the Critérium du Dauphiné preparatory race. Kuss did this uphill so fast that other captains fell behind before the Slovenian started a few meters from the finish. Jumbo-Visma can easily cope if one of the collective is absent earlier than planned, like George Bennett, who last fell Tuesday. If one is weak, two others simply intervene.
It has often looked similar in recent years at the Tour de France, when Team Sky set the pace with various riders. Since the British team changed sponsor in spring 2019, a lot has changed. Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas scored a double win on the tour in the Ineos jerseys, but their helpers were no longer as dominant as in previous years. This is also the reason why the 2019 tour result was open for a long time. Now it appears that Jumbo-Visma has taken on the role of Dominator.
The Dutch team also suits the British off-road model. At least for the moment, the days when Jumbo-Visma seemed extraordinarily accessible seem to be over. Interview requests are responded to with more caution. On the other hand, activities on social networks, in which everything looks smooth and harmonious, increase significantly.
Critics sometimes accused Ineos of a lack of transparency. In the run-up to the Tour de France, the team allowed themselves to be watched as little as possible. Now, Roglic, the leader of Jumbo Visma, made some efforts to question his condition ahead of this year’s race. He led observers to believe that due to a crash on the last day of the Dauphiné, their participation was in grave danger. Even his wife spoke. “The question is whether Primoz will compete,” he told the Slovenian media five days before the initial stage.
After reaching the mountain at Orcières-Merlette, the statements can be safely described as a bluff. Roglic acted with the same determination in the last kilometer as before his fall. When Guillaume attacked Martin, he closed the gap. In the final sprint afterwards, he gave his rivals no chance. In this condition, Roglic is the biggest favorite to win the Tour. Other riders in the class suffered in the final kilometers. Emanuel Buchmann, who had also fallen on the Dauphiné, lost 9 seconds, Richard Carapaz even 28 seconds. The spaces weren’t large, but they provided information about the state of the form.
Of course, things can change quickly. “Maybe they were too early to build the mold,” Ralph Denk, Bora-Hansgrohe team leader, said of Jumbo-Visma before departure. If the balance of forces really shifted in the last week of the race, major disruptions would be possible: only towards the end, in the Alps, do the most difficult stages emerge. Then it might be time for last year’s winner, Bernal, who can draw on the vast experience of his Ineos team.
Nairo Quintana also showed this Tuesday that he can be expected. The Colombian edged out Julian Alaphilippe in fourth place, few observers would have believed he did.
Corona tests on rest days
Above all is the question of whether the Tour de France will even reach the Alps. In view of the increasing number of corona infections in France, it is obvious that the decision on how long the race lasts rests with the state. Tour director Christian Prudhomme’s urgent wish that spectators always wear masks was followed with discipline during the early stages. It will only be seen if the security measures are sufficient on the two days off. Then drivers and supervisors will be screened again for the corona virus. If a team has to report at least two infections, it will be excluded.
If the route cancellation scenario is saved, the race will be decided on the penultimate day in the mountain time trial at La Planche des Belles Filles. This prospect is likely to reassure the Jumbo-Visma competition even more than the Orcières-Merlette show of force, because fighting the clock is Primoz Roglic’s exhibition discipline. Tom Dumoulin is most likely at eye level: he of all people, Roglic’s teammate.
Tour de France. 4. Etappe, Sisteron – Orcières-Merlette (160.5 km): 1. Roglic (SLO) 4:07:47. 2. Pogacar (SLO). 3. Martín (FRA). 4. Quintana (COL). 5. Alaphilippe (FRA). 6. López (COL). 7. Bernal (COL). 8. Pinot (FRA). 9. Landa (ESP). 10. Adam Yates (GBR). 11. Dumoulin (NED). 12. Chaves (COL), all at the same time. – 24. Carapaz (ECU) 0:28 back. 25. Reichenbach (SUI), same time. 28. Hirschi (SUI) 0:38. – General ranking: 1. Alaphilippe 18:07:04. 2. Yates 0:04. 3. Roglic 0:07.
