Tour de France gravel stage: futile attacks in the dust

Tadej Pogacar tries to walk on cobblestone roads champagne To attack several times. But at the end of the ninth stage of the Tour de France on Sunday (July 7, 2024), everything remains as it was in the fight for the yellow jersey. Especially since his rival Jonas Vingegaard has other plans.

Primoz Roglic arrived on the team bus with a thick layer of dust and a big smile on his face. Troy It went on. I am happy to be able to put this day behind him that he and his team feared. But now the ninth stage is over, and without suffering any damage, neither in terms of time nor physically.

Roglic is happy, his team leader is not.

“The most important thing is to stay in one piece”Roglic said after 199 kilometers across champagne32.2 km of it on gravel roads through the region's famous vineyards. What could have happened – a fault, a fall or some other unfortunate incident that could have cost the Slovenians time. But here he stands now: dirty, tired, but happy about it “that i held on to”.

Roglic crossed the finish line at the same time as the other contenders to win the Tour, 1:46 minutes behind today's jubilant winner. Anthony Turgis.And that was the main goal of this day. Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe. Although things got tough for Roglic several times along the way. Which is why his team boss Ralf Denk later came to the conclusion that this was the case, unlike his captain “Not a good day for us” He was.

Roglic's team in defense

With the “Back to the Wall” The German sporting director also said they had admitted a trip around the world-The difference, Rolf Aldag. Because in the second of the 14 gravel sections, his teammates Roglic were far behind. Then they got into a mess on the high terrain with deep gravel.

Nico Denz, one of the Roguelikes security guards I even had to get off and push his bike a little, which is why he did the whole thing later. “circus” Named. It took a lot of effort to get Roglic back into the favourites group early on, and he could have been saved better. As a result, the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe team found itself on the defensive again and again later on.

Vingegard won't go.

The most important thing is that no major damage was done. Jonas Vingegaard Thanks to. The winner of the Tour for the last two years followed a very similar plan on the white cobblestones of Champagne. “Our goal was not to waste any time.”“The Dane explained with a dusty gray face.

Vingegaard and his team were clearly not interested in leaving Roglic behind. Much to the chagrin of Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel. “The race could have been decided 80 kilometres before the end. Unfortunately Jonas decided not to ride with us. Which is understandable on the one hand, but not on the other hand.”Evenpool complained.

There the Belgian himself launched an attack on a cobbled hill that only Pogacar and Vingegaard could follow. The trio quickly caught up with the breakaway group of ten and created a lot of excitement there. But then the three fell back again after a short exchange.

Vingegaard takes over the driving from Tratnik.

“In all situations we thought it was better to have several of my teammates around me in case something happened.”Vineggaard later explained his refusal to cooperate. Perhaps also because he had an idea early in the race about how quickly the day could end in disaster for him too. In one of the first gravel sectors, Vineggaard had a flat tire and quickly took over the bike from his team-mate Jan Tratnik. The Slovenian has almost the same status as his leader.

Because you are with the team Visma–rent a bike Traditionally, nothing was left to chance, so they had Vingegaard try out Tratnik's bike at training camp. Vingegaard then rode the rest of the day with the number one start on his back and the number seven on his bike. champagneWhile Tratnik had to wait three minutes for a spare tire, he later reported.

Pogacar attacks tirelessly.

For Vingegaard, such a delay could have meant the end of his yellow ambitions. And so on the fourth-to-last gravel section, he refused to team up with Pogacar, who attacked tirelessly on the final stage, when both Roglic and Evenepoel lost contact and his team-mate missed him. Matthew Jorgenson To the competitor's rear wheel.

“I expected that. You might be underestimating Remko, Primoz, and the others a bit.”“I don’t think so,” Pogacar said later, shrugging his shoulders. “We could have left, that's how I see it. But everyone has their own race, that's the way it is.” In the end, all the attacks in the battle for yellow turned into dust, but this didn't make anyone really unhappy. “We all showed a really good race.”“I'm relieved,” said Roglic. “The show wasn't boring.” It continues after the rest day on Monday.