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Never seen for nearly twenty years! Stifling heat, challenging pavements and a dizzying sequence of three alpine stages … in 15 complicated days, the 2018 Tour de France peloton shrank by 24 riders.
" This is the first time we see so many sprinters on the street after a first week and a half of racing ", notes the athletic director of the French formation Cofidis, Alain Deloeuil.
With 152 cyclists departing from Saint- Paul-Trois-Châteaux (Drôme) in the direction of Mende (Lozère), 24 less than at the start of Vendée, the Tour had not known a peloton so little provided to start a 14th stage since 2000. They were then 151.
And during the stage of Saturday, well before the rise of Mende, the long list of recalted won a name: that of the New Zealander Patrick Bevin, forced to abandon. 19659002] " The Tour is not easy ," said Marc Madiot, General Manager of the Grou team pama-FDJ, whose sprinter Arnaud Démare managed to pbad the obstacle of the Alps, not without leaving a lot of energy there.
" The beginning of Tour was made complicated by the heat, with temperatures around thirty degrees each time ", says Deloeuil. " It uses a little organisms. "
From the Vendée, the mercury rose above 30 degrees, only to descend very rarely.
" Then there There were long, complicated and stressful stages, and the pavement stage was not easy either.There was an accumulation of this first week, which made the bodies really tired "Deloeuil adds.
Result: On the night of the first arrival at the summit in La Rosière, headliners, such as the Briton Mark Cavendish and the German Marcel Kittel, arrived after the deadline set by the jury
" 100% for five hours "
The following day, in the queen stage of the Alps, no less than three other clbad sprinters who have dropped out: Colombian Fernando Gaviria, Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen, both winners of two stages u sprint, and the German André Greipel
" It must be said that the stage towards the Alpe d'Huez was extremely rough, with more than 5,000 meters ascent on the third mountain day " , says Marc Madiot
His sprinter Arnaud Démare had to tap into his reserves to pbad before the deadline the finish line at the top of 21 mythical laces. " The physiological data were collected and he was 100% over the five hours, he broke his records just to get back on time! ", says his manager.
" J was in second position that day and I had to do the + Saint-Bernard + all day long with Christophe Laporte (sprinter of Cofidis), to accompany him, to give him the morale The collar of the Madeleine, of the Cross iron, between the two small pbad of three kilometers hard enough (Montvernier), it has risen a lot.It used everyone ", abounds Deloeuil.
The next day, while the race found a profile favorable for the sprinters, Demare ran out of juice (3rd) against the Slovak Peter Sagan, winner in Valencia before the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff
And the celebrations are not finished, since the Pyrenees arrive in three days.
" The Alps are always a little tougher for many runners, but when we see this stage of 65 kilometers (Wednesday between Bagneres-de-Luchon and Saint-Lary-Soulan with three pbades, Ed), it is not finished, there is still a week of very difficult race ", indicates Deloeuil
With only three favorable arrivals in the second and third weeks – in Valencia, Pau and finally the arrival on the Champs-Elysées–, some sprinters were also discouraged, leaving the way open to Peter Sagan for a sixth green jersey in Paris.
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