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Matej Mohoric’s spectacularly misjudged victory salute at Libourne on Friday afternoon echoed Lance Armstrong’s infamous gesture of 2004 and seemed to send an icy message to observers of this Tour de France: look, but don’t ask questions. .
The agents of the Central Office for the Fight against Attacks on the Environment and Public Health (OCLAESP) are of course wondering about this race, which is why they raided hotel rooms and public buildings on Wednesday evening. vehicles of the Bahrain Victorious team from Mohoric in Pau.
And some riders in the peloton, it seems, are also having questions. A report in a Swiss newspaper Time quoted three anonymous riders who expressed concern about “strange noises” emanating from the rear wheels of the bikes of four teams, including the UAE Team Emirates in yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar.
“There is a strange noise. I can hear it while riding. It comes from the rear wheels. A strange metallic noise, like an improperly adjusted chain. I have never heard that anywhere,” said one biker, according to the report. The report.
In the opening question of what turned out to be a rather shallow press conference after the stage on Friday night, Pogačar was asked if he had used anything illegal on his bike.
“I don’t know. We don’t hear any noise,” said Pogacar. “We’re not using anything illegal. It’s all Campagnolo, Bora gear. I don’t know what to say.
The print media then gave only two more questions to Pogačar, who casually responded to a question about his travel arrangements for the Tokyo Olympics. The Slovenian is expected to participate in the road race next Saturday, just five days after arriving in Paris in yellow.
“We will go on Monday, with the plane, because I checked on Google Maps and you can’t go by car,” Pogacar said. “He can’t find the route, so we’ll go on the plane, yes.” “
Pogacar has a lead of around 5.45 hours over Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) in the penultimate stage of the Tour, a 30.8 km time trial between Libourne and Saint-Émilion. Last September, he won his first Tour by beating his compatriot Primož Roglič on the corresponding stage of La Planche des Belles Filles, but the 22-year-old has long since stripped the Tour of all suspense.
Already winner of the time trial of stage 5 in Laval, as well as the arrivals at the top of the Col du Portet and Luz Ardiden in the Pyrenees, Pogacar will be, on the evidence of this race to date, favorite to win a fourth stage victory on Saturday afternoon.
“For tomorrow’s time trial, I’ll see how I sleep today and how I wake up tomorrow,” said Pogačar. “I’m leaving without stress, without pressure. Of course I will do my best as I always do, especially in TT. We’ll see what it brings, but I don’t care about the time trial tomorrow.
Merckx calls Pogacar “the new cannibal”
Stage 19 started from Mourenx, the site of perhaps the defining feat of 1969 Merckxism, and Eddy Merckx was present on the Tour on Friday as a guest of honor. The idea, of course, was that he could be on hand to watch Mark Cavendish revise his record of 34 Tour stage wins, but the loot fell at the break rather than the sprinters, postponing the appointment. -vous of Cavendish with destiny on the Champs-Élyées Sunday evening.
Regardless, Merckx was still in a position to reign over a rider whose authority on this Tour has already drawn comparison with the Belgian’s own dominance during his streak of five overall wins.
“I see him as the new Cannibal,” Merckx said of Pogacar. “He has already won a Tour and normally he will win the second.
“He’s extremely strong. I see him winning several editions of the Tour in the years to come. If nothing happens to him, he can certainly win the Tour de France more than five times.
Merckx then joined Pogacar on the podium at Libourne on Friday afternoon when the Slovenian was presented with his 12th yellow Tour jersey. Pogacar, who will also win both the best youngster and the king of the mountain in Paris on Sunday, paid tribute to Merckx in a televised interview after the ceremony.
“It’s huge to be with Eddy Merckx on the podium. He’s a cycling hero. I don’t consider myself a hero yet, but I hope to inspire a lot of kids to ride a bike, ”said Pogačar, who showcased some of the traits of a Tour patron on scene 19 when he stopped some of the early in-person attacks.
“There were a few crashes and gaps at the start of the stage today. It is really not pleasant to start a race like this. We then kept the peloton quiet for a while, but after the sprint we went into full attack mode. It was a pretty strange race. But then a group left and the group fell silent again. “
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