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The first alpine stage of the Tour de France on Saturday brought great problems for many cyclists. A slow group at the end of the peloton, the so-called the group contained up to 95 names.
THE ARTICLE IS BEFORE STAGE 9
Among them were not only classic sprinters such as Mark Cavendish, Peter Sagan, Tim Merlier and Arnaud Démare, but also former Tour de France winners Christopher Froome and Geraint Thomas, one of the great favorites Primož Roglič (resigned on Sunday limited by injuries – note), whether veteran Alejandro Valverde.
They all came to the finish line with a 35-minute deficit over the winning Belgian Dylan Teuns and less than two minutes before the set time limit. He was on the border of 37:32 min, the last Démare had a time of 35:34 min.
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“We had information about how much time we were wasting. I was a little nervous, I don’t like it when the limit is reached until the last moment. However, there were almost a hundred of us in the back, so most of them took it easy. In the last 20 km, we already knew that we could handle the limit, ” evaluated by a Czech cyclist Petr Vakoč on the iDnes.cz portal.
“The first of the three hills was incredibly challenging and the pace was brutal. And so we met a lot more in the back than usual. I don’t remember when there were so many overall Grand Tour winners, ” added Vakoč, who was wearing the Alpecin-Fenix jersey.
Photo gallery
Jan Svorada Tour de France TdF jul01 svorada.cz
Source: svorada.cz
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Once a great sprinter Ján Svorada, which represented Czechoslovakia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and won three stages at the Tour de France, in connection with the suffering of sprinters in the high hills of the Tour de France: “Crossing the hills is always challenging for sprinters. Especially in the last week of the Grand Tour, it’s extreme, because there are a lot of hills and the body is very tired. Therefore, it is not uncommon for sprinters to fail.
It looks simple when you have information on when to be at the finish line at the latest. But suddenly someone in front decides to speed up the pace and you just hear on the headphones that you have to add. But what if you’re actually going to the maximum? ”
In the recent past, Peter Sagan in particular, as a universal sprinter, has benefited from having better endurance in the hills than many other purebred sprinters. This is one of the reasons why he won the overall triumphs in the scoring competition relatively easily, because several sprinters did not manage the hilly stages.
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Svorada claims that sometimes in the so-called gruppete cooperates to meet the limit, but this is not always the rule. “If the stage is really difficult and the limit is on the edge, the friends in the peloton go sideways. Either you keep up the pace or you’re unlucky. ” a 52-year-old native of Trenčín thought.
He also mentioned that his famous victory on the main boulevard Champs-Élysées in 2001 might not have come at all if he had not reached the finish line within the time limit in the demanding 13th stage in the Pyrenees.
“We were three in the back from the Lampre team. However, my two colleagues eventually ‘wrapped up’ it, so I was left alone. Fortunately, I somehow ran, so I reached the group in the descent in front of the final hill. And then I went all the way to Paris. ” Svorada said.
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The course of the 9th stage of the Tour de France 2021
Source: reuters
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According to him, if there is a good mood in the gruppette, and everyone manages to reach the finish line at the limit, there is sometimes room for fun. Sagan is known for showing off to fans on the back wheel, once even signing a book during one of the hilltops on the Tour de France.
Slovak teammate in Bora-Hansgrohe Austrian Lukas Pöstlberger he once even took a slice of pizza from a fan in a good mood. “We still only eat rice cakes, energy biscuits and gels. I was asked for a change. Of course, it was during the last mountain stage. I couldn’t risk getting sick, ” Pöstlberger recalled.
“Yes, there’s sometimes room in the back for you to show off in front of people and have some fun. Some people like it, others don’t and they only focus on racing, ” finished Svorada on the iDnes.cz portal.
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