ANP
NOS Wielrennen•vandaag, 08:26
The riders who had a hard time or fell in the previous days (and there were quite a few!) will not be looking forward to today’s ride. The fifteenth stage from Les Gets to Saint-Gervais is anything but flat: even more up and down in the Alps.
With Monday’s rest day ahead, the race climbers can be lucky. Five categorized climbs in a 179 kilometer stage with a finish on Mont Blanc.
This will be the next chapter in the battle between yellow jersey wearer Jonas Vingegaard and pursuer Tadej Pogacar.
Two top riders between the climbing trains of Jumbo-Visma and Team UAE Emirates. High wattages, sleek looks. And a repetition of moves, analyst Stef Clement expects. “Pogacar will do the same as today,” said Clement after stage 14. Jumbo-Visma will also not abandon the exhausting strategy with which they tried to exhaust the competition in the stage over the Joux Plane.
Pogacar tactics
“This time there is an uphill finish. But the run-up seems a bit less difficult than the Joux Plane”, Clement thinks. “So it’s up to Jumbo-Visma to make it as difficult as possible. To take the focus off at Pogacar.”
NOSTour de France Stage 15
There is a nice course for that tactic. After a treacherous run-up, the first official test awaits after 83 kilometers with the Col de la Forclaz de Montmin (7.2 kilometers at 7.3 percent, 1st category).
The peloton heads towards the finish place, where the Mont Blanc is climbed via a two-stage rocket.
First the short, steep Côte des Amerands (2.7 kilometers at 10.1 percent, 2nd category) and then Mont Blanc (7.7 kilometers at 7 percent, 1st category). with finish in Saint-Gervais.
The sacred monster
One of the best female cyclists ever grew up at the foot of Mont Blanc. More than a thousand victories, several world hour records, 3x the Tour, 5x world champion on the road, Olympic champion and 59 national titles.
Stage 15: finish on Mont Blanc, view from ‘the holy monster’
All this is on Jeannie Longo’s bulging list of achievements. Always headstrong, gruff, insufferable according to some. But so often the best.
Le monstre sacré, the holy monster, was often associated with doping. Old age refused to take hold of her. Longo continued to race until she was 57, while she never really felt at home in the peloton. She wanted to be alone.
Arriving alone is what the winner on Mont Blanc is likely to do. But will it be a lonely escapee or will there be a duel between Vingegaard and Pogacar for the stage victory? “We do know one thing for sure”, said Thomas Dekker during the evening stage. “They are not going to get to the line on each other’s rear wheel.”
2023-07-16 06:26:00
#Stage #climbing #trains #steam #Mont #Blanc
