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In the middle of all this, a bike race could break out. On the road, the 2018 Tour de France was dominated by Team Sky, but between whistles and taunts – not to mention the expulsion of Gianni Moscon and Dave Brailsford's deliberately ignorant commentary on French culture – it is easy to "
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By winning consecutive finals at the top of the mountain at La Rosiere and Alpe d'Huez – feat until then achieved only by Fausto Coppi and Joop Zoetemelk – Geraint Thomas set a 1:39 lead over his teammate Sky Chris Froome, who appeared stronger than everyone during the run across the Alps.
On Monday in Carcassonne, Froome presented a united front as he was sitting next to Thomas, but when he said, "As long as a Sky pilot wins the Tour de France, I'm happy," we imagine that the Sky pilot that he had in mind was himself.
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. Faced with this, the winner of Sky's implicit leadership contest might seem to have to win the team's sixth victory in seven years, but with Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) still just 11 seconds behind Froome, the race will not be the same. is not (yet) a fight in the manner of Hinault and LeMond in 1985 and 1986, or, by the way, Wiggins and Froome in 2012.
Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), meanwhile, is 2:38 on Thomas in 4th, but his blazing attack on the so-called Montée Laurent Jalabert in Mende Saturday will not have gone unnoticed, and he has teammate Steven Kruijswijk (7th at 3:57) to serve as foil. The enigmatic Roglic has turned heads since he made the surprising transition from ski jumping to the WorldTour in 2016, with Emirates Emirates sports director Joxen Fernandez Matxin asserting to Marca this weekend, " Roglic will win the Tour. "
The rest of the top 10 is filled with riders who have been in the lead before and so men like Romain Bardet (5th at 3:21), Mikel Landa (6th at 3:42) and Nairo Quintana (8th at 4) : 23) may be that we take risks to resume the race on the podium rather than ride carefully to preserve their places of honor. Or as Dan Martin (10th at 6:54) said: "They are not going to roll to be 6th or 8th on GC, guys like Romain and Nairo."
AG2R World Sports Director Julien Jurdie maintains that Bardet's cause is not lost, given that Thomas is still not proven in this situation – his best result in Round is 15th – and Froome should – at least in theory – show signs of fatigue after his efforts at the Giro in May.
The sportsman Luke Roberts acknowledged that the last third of the race would also be the ultimate test for Dumoulin, who has so far shown no residual fatigue from his second place at the Corso Rosa. "If the Giro has wreaked havoc, we'll find out last week," said Roberts.
After Monday's rest day in Carcassonne, the Tour reaches its peak in the Pyrenees, with three stages in four days, followed by the 31 km undulating and potentially pivoting Basque Country Saturday afternoon. The third week of the Tour tends to be more controlled and cautious than the anarchy of the Giro d'Italia, but the pitch is hard enough to radically change the complexion of the race.
In the Wheels of Ocaña
The Tour enters the Pyrenees Tuesday with a 218km hike from Carcassonne to Luchon that vaguely follows the wheels of one of the most discussed stages in the history of the Tour, the 1971 stage from Revel to Luchon which saw the yellow jersey Luis Ocaña – untouchable in the Alps – squeeze out of the race on the descent of the Col de Mente.
two-thirds of stage 16 are relatively mild, with only category 4 Côte de Fanjeaux and Côte de Pamiers as obstacles, but the last 80 km are a mirror of this dantesque afternoon there are 47 years, with Col de Portet-d 'Aspet, Col de Menté and Col du Portillon with ah
Category 2 Portet-d' Aspet (5.4 km at 7.1%) is the most direct from this trio, but after passing the memorial of Fabio Casartelli, who died when he crashed. There, on the 1995 Tour, the peloton starts to climb almost as soon as the Col de Menté category 1 (6.9 km to 7.1%) appears.
While the long valley road following the descent of the Menté might prove discouraging long-range aggression, the final climb up the Col du Portillon is an ideal springboard for late attackers. The race heads briefly to Spain to tackle the category 1 climb (8.3 km to 7.1%) before crossing the border again to the top of the white knuckle, 10 km descent until arrival at Bagnères-de-Luchon
Expect a lot of attacks from the outset, but it's a great day, and l 39; "One of the most difficult climbs is the final climb," said Thomas on Monday. "It ends at altitude, and it's a long day, so we can not be too carried away at the start, that's all." is sure, but I'm sure it will be exciting to watch. "
Grid
If Tuesday is above all an attack at the tail, step 17 from Bagneres-de-Luchon to Saint-Lary-Soulan promises a fireworks start. Indeed, as the stage is only 65 km long, the l & rsquo; Organization pre The new measure of organizing the peloton on a grid at the start, with the best runners on GC placed at the head of the race.
Three passes are mounted in the short stage, and climbing starts from the gun with the demanding climb of Peyragudes (category 1), which brings the race to the Peyresourde pass and trails on 14 , 9 km at 6.7%. Then, category 1 Col de Val Louron-Azet (7.4 km at 8.3%), where Miguel Indurain won his first yellow jersey on the 1991 Tour, while the third climb of the day takes the Col du Portet (16 km to 8.7%) en route to an out-of-class finish at Saint-Lary Soulan
With 38.3 km of climbing and 3,126 meters of total climbing, the short step is the One of the most romantic ever proposed by the Tour. Stephen Roche won a 52km stage at Col d'Aubisque in 1985. In 1972, the Tour included a 28km (including 21km uphill) stage from Aix-les-Bains to Revard, where Cyrille Guimard overtook Sprint Eddy to take the honors of the stage, but if this step amounted to a massive ascent, this vicious offering could prove to be a kind of miniature epic
It remains to be seen, however, if the scene proves as explosive as the first ad. The climb to Saint-Lary-Soulan is the highest point of the Tour, at 2,215 meters above sea level, with long slopes of 10% at its base and still at the last kilometer. Despite the brevity of the stage, many runners could adopt a cautious attitude with the outcome without remorse
The last furlong
There is a day of respite on the Scene 18 with a flat leg in Pau, a development that goes against the old truism that three consecutive days in the high mountains are necessary to cause a real separation of the contenders in the general classification. As if to compensate, the stadium 19 stages three of the great beasts of the Pyrenees on its 200km – the Col d'Aspin, the Col du Tourmalet and the Col d'Aubisque – before the fall to the finish in Laruns.
The day, meanwhile, comes the only individual time trial of this Tour. The 31 km test from Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle to Espelette takes a hilly and winding course that includes the short and steep climb of Pinodieta (900 meters to 10.2%). There is the slightest allusion to the difficult route of Bergen Worlds on the course. Dumoulin, Roglic and Froome are the top three in Norway, so it can be said that the slightly more direct examination in Marseille a year ago resulted in significant gaps at the top of the overall standings and that all weakness will be sanctioned. at least as ruthlessly here. It's not surprising that Froome has admitted that his 11th second buffer on Dumoulin would not be enough next weekend – nor, of course, his current deficit to teammate Thomas.
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