Tadej Pogacar has tried everything and has already given a foretaste of his upcoming attacks on Wednesday and Thursday.
But the Slovenian couldn’t shake off Jonas Vingegaard on the Port de Lers and the Mur de Péguère.
In return, the overall ranking behind the duo shifted in completely different directions than the latest trends had suggested.
Tour de France
LIVE TICKER from 1:15 p.m. | Tour mountain arrival in the Pyrenees on stage 17
BEFORE AN HOUR
Above all, stage winner Hugo Houle and Freiburg’s Simon Geschke, who impressively defended his mountain jersey, also showed great performances.
Three things that stood out during the Pyrenees canter:
1.) Geschke puts an important cushion between himself and Vingegaard
Simon Geschke collected twelve points for his mountain jersey on Tuesday and thus extended his lead in the popular special classification to 19 points over second-placed Louis Meintjes. In general: Not a single one of his eight closest pursuers in the mountains classification scored on the 16th stage. Things could hardly have gone better for Geschke. And yet the Freiburger shouldn’t be too happy.
“It was a big investment today, but it was important that it was worth it – not like in Mende, where I invested a lot and then only got three points,” said Geschke after the stage. “Today there were twelve and that was definitely an important step – even if only a small one if you look at the profiles of tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”
Geschke puts everything on mountain jersey: Important coup at Port de Lers
On Wednesday, up to 35 points can be scored on three 1st category mountains and one 2nd category mountain. On Thursday there are even 55 – two honorary category, one 1st category. So anything is possible in the mountains classification and for Geschke it’s all about shadowing his toughest opponents like he did on Tuesday when Neilson Powless entered the group.
“Neilson was the only reason I was in the group today,” he said. “I try not to lose sight of my toughest opponents.”
Unfortunately, the toughest opponent doesn’t seem to be one whom Geschke can follow uphill: Jonas Vingegaard. The man in the yellow jersey already has 36 points to his credit as fourth in the mountains classification.
Geschke and his mountain jersey: now he can wear it to Paris
If he and Tadej Pogacar get serious in the fight for the overall victory in the upcoming mountain finishes in Peyragudes and Hautacam by also taking the stage wins, then it will be very tight for Geschke. Then he urgently needs to score points himself on the earlier climbs of the two stages in breakaway groups.
It was all the more important that on the 16th stage he not only took the ten points for first place at Port de Lers (1st category) after a great effort, but also fought doggedly on the Mur de Péguère to the summit. The two points there ensured that Geschke is now 22 points ahead of Vingegaard. A stage win in the honor category arrival in Hautacam alone would no longer be enough for the Dane to take Geschke’s jersey off.
2.) The fight for the overall standings is on fire – everywhere
No, nothing happened at the very top of the general classification in Foix. Tadej Pogacar attacked three times at Port de Lers, but the Slovenian defending champion Jonas Vingegaard was never able to distance himself.
The Dane showed no weaknesses and confidently defended his lead of 2:22 minutes on the first of the three Pyrenees stages. But Pogacar tried and the Slovenian will try again on Wednesday and Thursday – several times, for sure.
Analysis: Sovereign Vingegaard handles Pogacar attacks
“I’m looking forward to the next two days because there are more chances than today,” said Pogacar in Foix. The fight for the Tour victory could not be much more exciting. But it is even more exciting in the positions behind the two high-flyers. Because there, the balance of power shifts almost daily.
Overall, Geraint Thomas has looked like the clear number three so far. But in the steep Mur de Péguère Nairo Quintana was suddenly better than him and moved up to fourth overall behind Thomas, while David Gaudu weakened slightly, Adam Yates weakened a bit more and Romain Bardet had a really bad day. Within the top 10 everything seems to be possible in the coming days – in all directions.
“Suddenly you’re standing in front of a wall” – view of stage 17
As in Chatel or Mende or the notorious Turin stage of the Giro d’Italia this year, it was striking that it didn’t always take the mountain stages classified as the most difficult to really get things moving in the classification. Ramps like the Mur de Péguère, if they are well placed in connection with other climbs, can sometimes cause more damage than the much more famous high mountain giants of Tour history.
3.) Hugo Houle finally wins for his brother
It was probably the most beautiful victory story of the tour so far: Almost ten years after the tragic accidental death of his brother Pierrik, who was three years his junior, Hugo Houle celebrated his first professional victory outside of Canada and dedicated it to him – of all things on the tour that the brothers used to show together on television every summer pursued.
Even before the 2021 Tour, he revealed that it was his big dream to win a stage for his dead brother. Last year he never really came close to fulfilling this dream, but with absolute top form it has finally happened.
“This is for my late brother”: Great emotions at Houle
Already on the 13th stage in Saint-Etienne he was part of the trio sprinting for victory, but had to admit defeat to Mads Pedersen and Fred Wright. And now, on the way to Foix, everything fell into place – crazy, even though that hadn’t been the plan at all.
When I attacked, I actually wanted to do it Michael Woods help,” he described his advance at the foot of the climb to the Mur de Péguère. But nobody followed, and so Woods was no longer able to launch the planned counterattack after closing the gap. “When I saw that they let me drive, I was I went all-in,” says Houle from Quebec, who was considered a pure time trial specialist for years – no wonder, since his roots lie in triathlon.
Analysis of the emotional Houle victory: “In the beginning it was just a test balloon”
Swimming, cycling and running were also hobbies shared by Hugo and Pierrik Houle. “We started it together – I think when he was nine and I was twelve. He was faster than me at the beginning,” Hugo Houle told US cycling magazine Peloton last year.
On December 21, 2012, Hugo Houle had just signed his first contract with a European professional team – he drove for Ag2r in 2013 – but the unbelievable happened: Pierrik Houle was hit by a car while jogging and died at the scene of the accident. Hugo Houle found his brother, who was three years his junior, dead on the street.
As it turned out later, the person who caused the accident was drunk and had committed a hit and run. He was sentenced to eleven months in prison and a three-year driving ban.
“It’s for my brother, man” – Houle dedicates victory to deceased brother
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