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It is rare for two riders from the same team to reach the finish line of a Tour de France race together. The famous example is Bernard Hinault and Greg Lemond at Alpe d “Huez in 1986, a day when they dominated the Tour and its rivals. It was a historic race.
Being at the forefront of the race is something Dave Brailsford has been used to for a long time, his team has prevailed in the Tour de France seemingly at will, so this year has been a tough lesson in dealing with disappointments.
While Egan Bernal’s retirement would have been a major blow to team morale, the last three days have shown that despite the less than lackluster performances of the first two weeks of the race, the final part has been very different. No longer concerned with the GC battle, there has obviously been a shift in focus for the remaining Ineos Grenadier drivers. It’s what the best teams do: they take stock, decide what can be accomplished, and commit their resources to it.
Richard Carapaz may have been a last minute inclusion and was originally scheduled to do the Giro d’Italia, but he has been the team’s biggest presence in the Alps and the races he has produced on stages 16, 17 and 18 have been outstanding. By getting into the break early in each of those days he has placed himself in the best position to be part of the fight for the mountain classification and although in the Villard-de-Lans stage he faced a Lennard Kamna who surpassed him , there has been a clear intention to target the climber’s prize.
In Méribel, Carapaz made a fantastic trip that, had it not been for Bahrain-McLaren, would have won the stage and taken the polka dot jersey. The way he fought until the final kilometers indicated that he was still strong so it was no surprise to see him and Michal Kwiatkowski break again today and riding aggressively.
This has been the perfect way to respond to discussions about the pre-Tour selections, Bernal’s retirement, the weaknesses of the Ineos collective compared to Jumbo-Visma. By changing the plan to chase stage wins and having Carapaz put himself in the game for a major qualification, he gives the entire team a new purpose as the peloton heads towards Paris.
We were all quick to speculate that the organization that Team Sky gave us and then Ineos GC wins was on the downward slope and would no longer have any influence on the race. The demonstration on the road to La Roche-sur-Foron showed that it was premature and that the spirit and character of the squad are still present. Dealing with disappointments and defeats so far has not been easy and comments made, including my own, have been responded to in a way that leaves no doubt that the news of Ineos Grenadiers’ demise has been premature.
It would be unwise to assume that today’s victory will satisfy the ambitions of the Jim Ratcliffe-backed team, but if the news of the various signings is true, we can assume that the process of turning the team back into the super team it was. has previously started without delay
It was evident from the emotion shown by Michal Kwiatkowski in his post-race interviews that this victory meant a lot to the former world champion, not only because it was his first stage victory in the Tour de France, but because they had been through difficult days lately. With the loss of DS Nicolas Portal still on their minds, there was no better way for all of Dave Brailsford’s staff and passengers to prove that despite the troubles and issues that have arisen here, they intend to continue. trying, keep fighting and celebrate the memory of your beloved French.
