Jonas Vingegaard or Tadej Pogacar? The duel, undecided, promises to animate the last week of the Tour de France which rested Monday in Carcassonne before attacking the slopes, between heat and storms, of the Pyrenean massif.
The Welshman Geraint Thomas remains within reach in third place but, barring an improbable turn of events (fall, Covid), the final victory seems to concern only Vingegaard and Pogacar, above the lot so far in the different climbs.
Two men, two characters, two different profiles. Vingegaard, focused and obstinate, did more than resist the double defending champion, he pushed him to the fault last Wednesday in the alpine stage of the Col du Granon to steal the yellow jersey from him.
Between them, the match promises to be open even if Pogacar has often impressed in the mountains… until his spectacular failure of the Granon. The Slovenian, whose player character borders on prodigality, will he take this warning into account?
Vingegaard ran in defense after his Granon number. His advantage of 2 min 22 sec gives him a sufficient margin of safety in view of the Rocamadour time trial, over 40.7 kilometers, on the eve of the finish.
“The gap seems significant but the time is quite long,” warned the wearer of the yellow jersey. “If an opportunity arises, I’m likely to attack Tadej. It all depends on the legs. If I feel good…”
Two teams tied
The black Sunday experienced by the Jumbo team restored the balance between the formations of Vingegaard and Pogacar. With five teammates to support them, the Dane and the Slovenian are tied numerically if they do not have the same strengths: alone, the green jersey Wout van Aert is capable of knocking down the work of several teammates in the service of Vingegaard . “If necessary, he will drive for three as he knows how to do so well”, assures his sporting director Grischa Niermann.
Far from the language of wood, van Aert admitted on Sunday evening that the loss of Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk changes the situation: “We may not change our strategy but it will affect us. “The day of rest, “to measure and repair the damage” according to the formula of the Belgian “Superman”, came at a good time for the Jumbo camp which sought to heal the wounds, for the Belgian Tiesj Benoot especially and also the yellow jersey caught in the same fall of Saint-Ferréol, during the brief incursion of the 15th stage in Haute-Garonne.
“I still think we have a very strong team,” said Dutch team boss Richard Plugge, who put things into perspective: “The confidence is still there. In the end, the last word goes to Jonas”.
Go to Peyragudes and Hautacam
After the Ariège appetizer swallowed Tuesday in Foix, the survivors of the Tour attack two hard mountain stages which end in arrivals at the top, in a replica of the alpine program.
On Wednesday, a route with no downtime in the last 76 kilometers (four climbs) leads to the Peyragudes altiport after a grueling 8 kilometer climb. The next day, the organizers innovated by going through the unprecedented Spandelles pass, after Aubisque, to reach the Hautacam station. “We want this last mountain stage to mark the Tour”, announces race director Thierry Gouvenou about this relentless sequence, a first category pass framed by two climbs classified at the highest, out of category.
What will be the positions after this mountain concentrate? The last explanation is scheduled for Saturday in Rocamadour. The time trial, “a hilly course on which we are always in grip” in the opinion of the “regional” David Moncoutié, ends with two climbs to reach the tourist site of the Lot. A high place of the pilgrimage to Compostela, last stop this time before Paris.