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With UEFA Euro 2020 being fresh in everyone’s memory, it seems entirely appropriate to refer to some of the actions we saw during stage 17 of the Tour de France using language more commonly heard during the Tour de France. observation of the beautiful game.
This is why it is called which always leaves me perplexed because apart from the moments of special skill there seems to be an awful lot of kicking, shirts and arguing over every minor decision but I will stick to it. to that – this is what Richard Carapaz subjected his two companions Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard up to 1500 meters from the line at the top of the Col du Portet. Then he attacked them.
Oh my God, this is not a good move. Not when he had pretended to hang on for the previous 7 km. He had, in football terms, committed the equivalent of faking an injury, of rolling on the grass screaming in pain in order to see an opponent penalized for an imaginary foul.
Remember, this is the rider who won the Giro d’Italia two years ago and is therefore no stranger to being at the front of a great race. It’s fair to say that he understands the tactics involved when the turning points happen at the highest level. Therefore, given that he had every interest in outrunning his closest overall rival, Rigoberto Urán, as far as possible before the penultimate day of the time trial, the question to be asked is: why the Did Ecuadorian pretend to be unable to work with the two best runners in the race?
It was not for Pogacar or Vingegaard to step up to the front; they are both at the top of the overall standings and they are both better against the clock. Other than winning the stage and getting to the finish as comfortably as possible, they had no reason to step away from the other guys involved in the battle for the podium. This was not the case for Carapaz because it was he who had the most to gain from spending time in Urán – even at the cost of a possible stage victory, which was going to be unlikely anyway as the yellow and white jerseys were stronger.
Carapaz’s mission once Uran lost contact should have been to ride as hard as he could, but strangely he wouldn’t. Worse yet, he probably said he couldn’t when the others asked for his help. If it was the team’s order not to do so, then he could have pointed it out to his rivals, who would have recognized his dilemma, even if they weren’t happy with it.
But to pretend you’re having a hard time when you should be the one riding your guts is bad enough. Second, attacking is an epic failure on a moral scale and will not go unnoticed by anyone.
Let’s not forget that previously there had been a bizarre episode with Carapaz’s teammate Jonathan Castroviejo annoying Pogacar’s servant Rafal Majka as he set the tone. I know there is sometimes not a lot of honor in riding a bike, but sitting down when you have no excuse to shy away, then skipping those pulling in the front, are some of those things you don’t do. It’s poor even when you have a good reason.
Fortunately, Pogacar was on the Ineos driver right away and Vingegaard resumed his way just in time to see the race leader take a well-deserved victory. If Carapaz had stolen the stage victory, it would have been as outrageous as his refusal to roll and then attack.
Basically, the tactic was the equivalent of malpractice – hacking someone to prevent a scoring opportunity. Definitely a yellow card offense and if that’s the way the game is played Ineos had better hope that nothing happens like a puncture or a mechanic at an inopportune time. You might not be friends with your rivals, but you certainly don’t want to make enemies unnecessarily.
Entering this final segment of the Tour, it shows the desperation of the once dominant team who are now suffering at the hands – or rather pedals – of others. They, like many teams, have extenuating circumstances which explain some of their disappointing results and, even though they finish with Carapaz in third place, they may be better than what we saw on the first of the great Pyrenean stages. .
Prior to this point, questions were put to the UAE Team Emirates and whether they were strong enough to keep Pogacar in a position where he could do his job and win the race. I think on the road to Saint-Lary-Soulan we saw the answer to that because they controlled the midfield perfectly and let their striker put the ball in the net in the final minutes. It wasn’t an outrageous tempo, it wasn’t dominant, and it didn’t make you wonder if what you saw was real. The UAE used their riders smartly and just like when you have the lead in the Tour de France, everyone stepped up and gave their all.
In the same way as the guys from small group survive the thought that Paris is in sight, grimaces and appropriate suffering have been involved and, ultimately, is what we all admire.
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