After his appearances on stages 5, 6 and 7, many are already certain: Pogacar will celebrate his third tour victory in Paris on July 24th.
But as is so often the case at the beginning of a three-week tour: keep calm!
The section to the Super Planche des Belles Filles was just the first of a total of six mountain finishes.
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Kämna’s heroic fight without a happy ending: the highlights of the 7th stage
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Just as this 7th stage was the prelude to a real climbing festival, from a German point of view it was also the starting signal for two very offensive weeks.
Kämna’s heroic fight without a happy ending: the highlights of the 7th stage
Here are three things that stood out on Vosges Day.
1st German Day makes you want more
Yes, the days of the German sprint dominators at the Tour are over. But those of the German attackers are just as much fun! And Friday’s trip to the Vosges was the perfect start to what could have been two very interesting weeks from a German perspective – crowned almost immediately by a stage win.
After taking care of captain Aleksandr Vlasov for the first six stages, Lennard Kämna and Max Schachmann got their first free pass on this tour towards the Super Planche des Belles Filles and played it out like a picture book.
As sports director Rolf Aldag explained after the stage, this had long been considered: “To attack that day and go for a stage win and the yellow jersey, that was the plan since we knew the route,” he said. And in fact, for a while, Schachmann drove at least virtually in yellow.
Despite a bitter day: Bora is heading in the right direction
But not only the Bora duo shone on Friday, Simon Geschke also shone. After all, it was he who attacked first of the eleven escapees. It was he who won the two category 3 climbs along the way. And he was also the one who opened the final with his start at the foot of the final climb. The ASO jury rewarded the Freiburger with the prize for the most combative driver.
What Geschke and his Bora compatriots have in common is that their captains both lost ground on Friday, increasing the likelihood of further attack opportunities for the German helpers.
“The first stages of the tour weren’t really my thing. But now I’m trying to enjoy the races again. Hopefully there will be another win in the next two weeks,” Geschke announced that he would try again. The 36-year-old won’t have collected the four mountain points for nothing either. It’s quite possible that he’ll reach for the popular jersey with the red dots again in the next few days.
“Material for the history books” – the analysis of the Kämna drama
And even if Bora captain Vlasov hasn’t completely given up his hopes of the targeted podium, Aldag also confirmed: “We want to drive offensively. Even if one of us is in front, we still have three climbers behind,” he explained that there would be no reason to tie all the men in the field to the Russians.
With the arrivals in Lausanne and Châtel, two further stages are already waiting at the weekend, which would suit Kämna and Schachmann as well as Geschke. But Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert) also attacked several times in the starting phase on Friday and tried to get into the group – just like Nils Politt and Jonasrutsch have been very offensive in the last few days.
And when the toughest mountain stages are over, you can still trust Max Walscheid and John Degenkolb or even Alexander Krieger to attack. None of them have their hands or legs tied because of a captain.
2. The classification is pre-sorted – PRE-sorted
Tadej Pogacar has won again and Tadej Pogacar looks set to win his third Tour de France. But Tadej Pogacar still has opponents. And as much as some observers want to congratulate him on his third tour victory, it should be emphasized that they are not beaten yet. Pogacar himself knows this very well, as you can see from the fact that he doesn’t stop attacking.
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“In cycling there is no advantage that is big enough,” he said to the camera at the finish of the 7th stage and also explicitly praised his worst challenger, Jonas Vingegaard. “Jonas is one of the strongest climbers, if not the strongest climber in the world,” he said. He hasn’t forgotten the moment at Mont Ventoux last year when Pogacar was no longer able to follow the Dane.
Now Vingegaard was equal on the steep Vosges ramp to the Super Planche des Belles Filles, although the Dane himself repeatedly emphasizes that long climbs in the high mountains suit him better than these 7-kilometer low mountain range ramps.
Important for the fight for the overall victory was the realization that Primoz Roglic does not seem to be weakened after his fall on Wednesday and could therefore still play an important role as a precious helper for Vingegaard and tactical variant. And it was also important that the British Ineos duo Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates were able to keep up. Because the British racing team, which still has four men in the top 10 in the overall standings, could still do a lot with offensive appearances.
Four men in the top 10 – when will Ineos sacrifice the B captains?
“It’s good that we’re all still at the top of the overall standings and going into the next two weeks like that. We’ll try to make good use of our superiority,” said Thomas on Friday, but also dampened expectations of an offensive firework display: ” We don’t attack no matter what the hell.”
The best evidence that Pogacar is not yet as sure of himself as most outsiders, but also feels a little nervous, was a scene immediately after his noble helper Rafal Majka arrived at the finish line. When he arrived at Pogacar, the Slovenian immediately remarked: “You left me too soon.” Majka swerved a little earlier in the final than planned and immediately apologized to his boss at the finish.
Ultimately, Pogacar and his team have to defend the yellow jersey for two more weeks with great effort when the competition from Ineos and Jumbo – Visma as well as Bora – hansgrohe blows to big attacks. And that that will happen is pre-programmed in view of the profile of the coming days.
3. The real mountains are yet to come
The tour has only just begun. After a tough first week on tricky stages on the coast and over the cobblestones, it’s now time for the mountains. And as brutal as Friday’s gravel ramp was, this 109th Tour of France will be even tougher in the next two weeks. “We haven’t had a decent mountain stage yet,” Geraint Thomas correctly stated on Friday.
And correspondingly little has been lashed down in the overall classification so far. When it went up to the Super Planche des Belles Filles at the end of the first tour week in 2019, Thomas, Thibaut Pinot and Julian Alaphilippe were the best of the classification riders there. Only one of them, Thomas, was second on the podium two weeks later.
After all, for the 1,140 meter high Vosges mountain top with an ascent time of just under 20 minutes, you also need different physical requirements than for climbs in the high mountains that are twice as long beyond the 2,000 meter mark.
In the coming days, the 15.4-kilometer Pas de Morgins (9th stage), the 19-kilometer climb to Megève (10th stage), the more than 2,400-meter-high Col du Galibier and Col du Granon (11th th stage) and the famous Alpe de Huez (12th stage) in the way of the riders at the end of the stages. “I hope that things will go even better on the long climbs,” Vingegaard Pogacar warned.
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