Featured image courtesy of Tim De Waele via Getty Images
The second week of the 2021 Tour de France is over, the race now located deep into the Pyrennes. On the second rest day, the riders are now in Andorra after making a southwesterly move down from the Alps, over Mont Ventoux and skirting the Mediterranean. Stages 14 and 15 have acted as the starting point before a third week that features three non-stop stages tackling high Pyrenean summits.
Attention has moved away from the sprinters for now, although the fast men will he hoping they get over the mountains and make it to Paris. For the GC contenders, the objective has to be an attempt to dislodge Tadej Pogačar from his throne. A truce was made on Stage 14 to Quillan, but Stage 15 featuring the highest point of this year’s race with a finish in Andorra, was the perfect terrain to attack the yellow jersey. Did anyone manage to put any pressure on Pogačar? INEOS Grenadiers and Movistar were two teams who tried, but in the end the maillot jaune wasn’t really troubled.
High altitude means thin oxygen. Who can cope with the conditions both physically and mentally? The race for yellow does look nailed on, Mark Cavendish in green continues to fight, Pogačar if he wins this Tour again will take away the white jersey as well, so of all the competitions, it’s the King of the Mountains fight for polka-dots that has really exploded into life. Two riders also managed to deliver stage wins, the breakaways are claiming their rightful passage to victory – this Tour de France is almost over but there’s still many a narrative yet to be told.
One narrative that has been apparent at this Tour is how teams change their plans. If Plan A doesn’t succeed then Plan B is the next option. That’s the case for both Trek-Segafredo and Jumbo-Visma. Starting with Trek, their plans have actually covered the two grand tours we’ve seen happen, and the Tour which is happening right now. At the Giro, the plan was to see if Vincenzo Nibali could pose a GC challenge, but in the end it wasn’t to be. At this Tour de France, credit must go the team for not targeting the overall, but instead reaping your rewards in a stage win.
Riding alongside Nibali at the Giro, it’s not unexpected to see Dutchman Bauke Mollema try and go for a high placing in the general classification. In previous years he has tried his hardest to claim a decent GC result, the 2016 Tour was one example where at one point he was third overall before falling from grace to finish 11th. In 2011 Mollema finished on the Vuelta podium, third behind Chris Froome. How times have changed but not in a bad way. There is no getting away from the fact that grand tour ambitions to win a pink, yellow or red jersey are far behind Bauke Mollema’s expectations nowdays, but if not GC why not some extra glory via stage?
Stage 14 from Carcassonne to Quillan was built-up as a semi-mountain stage, not quite in the high Pyrenees, more the foothills. A tough stage nonetheless, Mollema was one of so many riders who formed a breakaway, but then had the courage to attack on a tricky descent around 40 km from the finale. Climbing the final summit at the Col de Saint-Louis before another sketchy downhill into town, it was in many ways a vintage Tour de France stage where nothing was certain, the break had their day and the GC contenders didn’t really want to attack each other.
For Mollema himself he now has a third career stage win at the grand tour. The Dutch climber has now doubled up at the Tour after taking a similar stage in terms of terrain back in 2017, lots of climbs, not in the highest mountains, but still a terrific win in the Massif Central. Now he has another, the only thing he could do with now is a stage at the Giro. Bauke Mollema can join the grand tour club, he’s a Monument winner at the 2019 Il Lombardia too. A well respected favourite, there can be nothing but praise for the way he performed on Stage 14.
There also has to be huge amount of credit for the way Jumbo-Visma have approached this Tour after the horror situation they’ve found themselves in. Losing your leader Primož Roglič, followed by other team-mates who’ve suffered from terrible injuries, it’s never a nice thing to see, no other team would wish it on any other despite rivalry. There’s tonnes of respect in the pro peloton, plus huge amounts of admiration from the fans.
Stage 15 was the final act of week two from Céret to Andorra-la-Vella via a serious of difficult mountain passes, including the Port d’Envalira as the highest point of the 108th Tour at 2,408 metres above sea level. A breakaway was expected to make it all the way and on the decisive climb at the Col de Beixalis it was an American, already a stage winner the Vuelta, who finally broke his duck at the Tour.
The role of Sepp Kuss at Jumbo-Visma for a few years now has been super-domestique, the last man to help catapult Primož Roglič into the best position possible. It was in 2019 when we first got a good glimpse as to what this now 26-year-old climber could do. Supporting Roglič at both the Giro and Vuelta two years ago warranted praise, not just because Kuss took his first grand tour stage win in Spain, but the ability to destroy everyone else’s hopes. Putting the hard graft and the pace on the climbs is what Sepp Kuss does best. He’s helped Primož Roglič to win the red jersey twice and came oh so near to helping the Slovenian win yellow last year.
For this Tour de France, while there’s disappointment that not all has gone to plan with a GC tilt, there’s the extra benefit that that can bring. Sepp Kuss winning a stage at the Tour is well-deserved for all the sacrifice he’s had to do in support of others. Plans change for teams. Jumbo-Visma have taken full advantage. Sepp Kuss now has a stage, Wout Van Aert has one too after Mont Ventoux on Stage 11 – the Dutch team have salvaged something for this Tour. They deserve all the plaudits.
The descent off the Beixalis was reminiscent of 1983 when Robert Millar held off Pedro Delgado to win his first Tour stage. Sepp Kuss holding off former world champion Alejandro Valverde was a carbon copy of that very stage down into Bagnères-de-Luchon.
What we’ve also seen to round off week two is the fight for polka-dots. Just like Jumbo-Visma, the priorities of Team Bahrain-Victorious have shifted from the disappointment in losing Jack Haig on Stage 3 to fighting for stages as shown by Matej Mohorič and Dylan Teuns. There is now a chance to do more in the King of the Mountains competition, where riders try and score points over summits across the three weeks. Whoever finishes with the most come Paris wins the polka-dot jersey. Dutchman Wout Poels leads but we have seen challenges on Stages 14 and 15 from Israel Start-Up Nation’s Canadian climber Michael Woods and Team Arkéa Samsic’s Nairo Quintana.
Poels, Woods and Quintana look set to be the three heads of state who will challenge for points by getting into the break, although don’t discount stage winner, a man who can sprint too, Wout Van Aert. We are discovering so much about Wout Van Aert at this Tour. First he was tipped to be a GC contender in the Alps after Stage 8, then he lost contact, sprinted up against Cavendish, won the Ventoux stage, and now we’re seeing the Belgian road champion try for mountains points. Is there anything Van Aert cannot do? It’s hard to remember a time since Eddy Merckx when we’ve last seen a rider who can win Spring Classics, sprint, time trial and climb like a mountain goat. The Jumbo-Visma man is a pure talent and revelation in cycling. A pleasure to watch.
Nairo Quintana hasn’t looked at this best, he did manage to wear the polka-dots at this Tour before losing the jersey. He attacked on Stage 15 to secure the Souvenir Henri Desgrange but what more can he do? A stage win isn’t out of the question, Stage 17 atop the Col du Portet to come, is a summit where the Colombian has won before. Michael Woods did crash on a descent on Stage 14, his confidence shattered a little, but for sure Woods is still there to try and win the polka-dots come Paris.
Who can put Tadej Pogačar under pressure? The chances of yellow jersey being wrestled off his shoulders looks remote, but the key question we asked before the Pyrenees – which team will attack UAE-Team Emirates. INEOS and Movistar took it up on the Port d’Envalira, the Spanish team shelled riders quickly, but INEOS still had Geraint Thomas around to support Richard Carapaz. The Ecuadorian did attack on Stage 15, Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard too, as well as EF-Education Nippo’s Rigoberto Urán, but none could shake Pogačar off their wheel.
Team tactics are clearly going to have to change, most clearly the strategy of INEOS Grenadiers. They put Jonathan Castroviejo and Dylan Van Baarle in the break, but in all respects, they’ve probably run out of ideas. They’ve said that they will fight all the way to the final time trial on Stage 20, but it’s clearly for a podium place. Vingegaard has done incredibly well to come to this Tour as support for Roglič but is now a new option, and in Urán, the Colombian has finished on the Tour podium before, he’s probably the best man to do exactly the same this year.
But what can you do about Tadej Pogačar? UAE are not the strongest, but the 22-year-old doesn’t need them to be. The Slovenian has this Tour de France in the bag after a dominant performance in the Alps, the only thing that can stop him now is a puncture and other teams don’t respect the yellow jersey (an unwritten rule shredded), or he suffers badly. It’s going to take an absolute disaster for Pogačar to lose this Tour, he doesn’t even need to attack the race. Riding conservatively, it’s everyone else’s to lose. INEOS will have something in store, but to be quite frank they’re not the strong team of Tours gone by.
Be prepared to see attacks left right and centre but there’s nothing anyone can realistically do to stop Tadej Pogačar. He’s sailed through this door while other pre-Tour contenders have fallen. That’s out of his control, but most importantly Pogačar has flown on the trains of other teams to a great effect, before launching his ambition to win this Tour. A dominant performance, no cracks have been shown, but could something change in week three?
Nothing is certain, Tadej Pogačar won’t take anything for granted. Three big days in the Pyrenees to come including back-to-back summit finishes. So far, except for Tignes on Stage 9, we’ve only seen mountain stages finishing on the downhill. Couldhigh altitude mountain top finishes at the Col du Portet and Luz-Ardiden he his undoing? Unlikely but not impossible.
The third week is incoming, the 108th Tour de France is nearing its conclusion. Can Mark Cavendish get over the remaining Pyrenean stages and make it to Paris? On the evidence so far, he’s coping well, beating the record of Eddy Merckx is still on the cards. The yellow jersey is almost secure for Tadej Pogačar, who will finish on the podium behind him? Lots of stories are still yet to be told in week three.
