[ad_1]
German climber Lennard Kämna looks ready for a second career victory at the Tour de France as he storms into the final 2km of La Super Planche des Belles Filles as the strongest survivor in the Maintain a 50-second lead in the chasing peloton.
However, the 25-year-old didn’t raise his arms on the line as he did at Villadran two years ago, with the Emirates charging at the back. is their team and race leader, Taj Pogacha, swept past his Tour rival Jonas Vingegaardended Kämna’s dream within 100 meters of the line.
Only one breakaway rider has won the Tour de France at Laplanche in the five previous visits to the Vosges, and despite some pre-race predictions to the contrary, the Emirates never planned to let that happen. It happened again on Friday’s stage.
Pogačar, who completely won the Tour in a stunning time trial in 2020, called the climb “special” in his Stage 6 championship press conference, noting that his family and girlfriend will be at the top this year. Fighting for another victory is always our plan.
“We made no secret that we wanted to fight for the stage. We were very open – we fought for the stage,” George Bennett said after Pogacha’s second conquest of Laplanche.
“Once Brandon [McNulty] Pull him too fast, and then — I mean, the separation is actually really strong. We have to pull so fast, I think we’ll catch up with them, but they did a really good job. “
After Ineos Grenadiers led the way into the climb, at 1:30 downhill, the Emirates Chiefs took over the pace controlled by McNulty and Bennett. The time gap narrowed to a minute before Polish climber Rafał Majka took over for the final 3 kilometers.
He made the most dramatic turn at the front to help close the gap to 35 seconds before the red flames before waving to his leader with great enthusiasm at the 800m – he later admitted “a mistake”, thinking they were close to the end The curve is closer.
Of course, the work is not done yet. Vingegaard’s challenge was a strong one as he and Pogačar flew past Kämna at dying meters, with the Danes now the main challenger for the maillot jaune. Pogačar turned yellow earlier than his two previous Tour victories on Thursday. That’s fine, though, Bennett said.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do in the next few days, but I don’t think there’s a problem with having the jersey, you know what I mean?” he said. “Yellow has been good every day and I think we survived the first week really, very well.
“We got a lot of criticism because we didn’t do the old train with eight people, but actually Tadej was always with him. You also saw today how strong Jonas and Primož are [Roglič, third on the stage] So we’re going to have a very, very big fight. As a cyclist, I’m looking forward to it. “
While the Emirates Chiefs hierarchy has always been clear, Roglic’s time loss on the cobblestones has sorted Jumbo-Visma. The Ineos Grenadiers’ formed at La Planche and Geraint Thomas became the strongest leader in the English team.
Both teams have multiple options to challenge Pogacha, even if Roglic is nearly three minutes behind. Bennett said he expects the UAE’s opponents to be “stunned” in the Tournament battle, even as he and his team-mates are prepared.
“Maybe you won’t beat him one-on-one, but you can set up a lot of situations, [Jumbo] Having the advantage of having two dangerous guys,” he said. “It just means that Tadej needs a super strong team around them, what he has and the stronger you are, everyone is trying to flick you, so you need a stronger team.
“I expected – I don’t know at what stage – but one day it’s going to be bad. Primoz on the break, Sepp [Kuss] Just throw everyone out – something like that. There will be a situation where we need to really prepare. So, we never underestimate them. We are never complacent, we look forward to war every day. “
After the stage, UAE manager Joxean Fernández Matxin, who called his team “a super team”, praised the win over Pogačar – “a super role that couldn’t be possible” – in just three years. The driver who won the eighth stage.
“It’s a step-by-step routine,” he said, repeating a phrase commonly found in professional cycling stage race parlance. “It’s normal. It’s a big name rider, super professional. Majka is one of the best climbers in my opinion, and so is Bennett. There’s McNulty, Soler, Mikkel Bjerg … it’s a A super team.”
The Spaniards were also wary of the strength of their opponents, singled out obvious duo Vingegaard and Roglič as two to watch.
“In that moment Vingegaard was a good opponent at 35 seconds. Tadej passed him in the final meters. Big respect to Vingegaard and Roglič who tried yesterday in the last corner. He lost two minutes on the cobblestone, But you didn’t remember – Roglic is Roglic. “
[ad_2]
Source link
