At the Tour de France it was Poels’ day. And the risk of losing everything

All the Tour de France he held his breath for a few moments. The worst scenario, the one that no one had ever even taken into consideration, because one always tries to put bad thoughts aside and not give them weight, was instead materializing that there were 128 kilometers to go to the finish and many climbs to climb . The escape had started, Julian Alaphilippe was as usual in front of everyone – because among the many things this race is giving us is also the ardor and obstinacy of the former world champion to go faster than his legs not at his best –, the group pursued still uncertain whether or not to take an interest in the avant-gardists. In Aviernoz a lot of people had gotten out on the street, the great majority happy and calm, some had taken a few steps too many towards the center of the street. One, who doesn’t feel well because he was waving his arms with his eyes turned away from the group’s progress, hit the arm of Nathan van Hooydonck, second-generation player (in terms of body size) in the yellow jersey. The Belgian crashed, about twenty riders with himchain from the right side of the road to the center. Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, on the left of the roadway, passed within half a meter of the crash. She has gone well with them, very well. It could have been the disaster stage. The one in which whoever had made the one hundred and ten edition magnificent up to this moment could have done the calculations with the parts of the body in pain and not just the addition of the seconds lost and gained.

Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar have avoided the asphalt, they avoid it more easily than the other great riders. They managed to continue their game of shots and mischief, their progress one after the other, side by side in a continuous attempt to wear down the certainties of others. Especially to draw attention to them. In a total way, at times all-encompassing. It’s worth it, their duel is only as elegant as the one on the platform with foil strikes. Refinement and precision, physical and mental control. You can’t ask for anything better from this sport.

All-encompassing that even the French direction was enchanted to such an extent risk missing the joy of Wout Poels with his arms raised under the finish line of Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc. Having never won the Dutchman in the Tour de France (or any other three-week stage race), he risked having no video memories of this day. He will hardly forget it, and it will be the same for us, because when he wins Wout Poels, it doesn’t happen often, he always does it through the sum of obstinacy, courage and tactical intelligence. There is one thing that any captain who has had the honor of receiving his services has always recognized: Wout Poels knows what and when it is best to do something. Chris Froome said it, Mikel Landa agreed. He proved it on one of the occasions that he cared out to race for himself and not for the others: at the Liège-Bastogne-Liège of 2016 he first found the right moment to make fun of the group, then the energy to outsprint two very fast runners in the sprints among a few: Michael Albasini and Rui Costa.

He proved it again today. For kilometers he let Giulio Ciccone and Mattias Skjelmose set the pace at the head of the race in an attempt to get the former to earn as many points as possible – mission accomplished given the conquest, at least for today, of the polka dot jersey – he was disinterested in Marco’s shots Haller, Rui Costa and Marc Soler. He waited for what in his view was the one, the only one?, to follow. And when Wout van Aert left, he was right there. He has never missed a change, he has always lent a hand: the good habits of the follower are not lost overnight. He waited for the right moment. On the Côte des Amerands, two kilometers and seven hundred meters of road that always points to the sky in double figures, he got rid of Wout van Aert and Marc Soler. He continued alone, only arrived. He became the youngest rider to win a stage at the Grande Boucle.

Instead, it seems that it is impossible to achieve solitude for Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. Neither of them grants it to the other, neither of them can grant it to the other. He conquered the yellow jersey on the Col de Marie Blanque and found it very sweet. The Slovenian climbing towards Cauterets-Cambasque, then on the Puy de Dôme. He would like to conquer it on every climb, he is not succeeding. Vingegaard and Pogacar are the same, they both pedal very hard, they understand it, they are trying to figure out how to get out of this stalemate. Tuesday’s time trial, the only one in the Tour de France, could lend a hand, but that’s not certain.

Today Tadej Pogacar tried to play smart. First he lost a few half meters from Jonas Vingegaard’s wheel, then let Adam Yates detach him. However, the pink jersey is not a fool, it was enough for him to look at his face, see his grimace and his pale face despite the sun to understand that what he saw was not to be trusted. He had the half smile, the usual one, always. He went back to pedaling with a watchful eye, with the awareness that the other one would attack. He went as he had imagined. It happened that he didn’t lose a meter, not even those few dozen, later cancelled, that he had conceded the previous day on the Col de Joux-Plane.

Everything is still even: ten seconds, those that Vingegaard has on Pogacar, are nothing. They are a perfect plot, a masterful writing that keeps us there to see stage by stage what can happen, because there is no one who knows how this race can end, who will be able to wear the yellow jersey with the Arc de Triomphe behind them at sunset. Allez le Tour.

Tour de France 15th stage: the order of arrival and the general classification