What remains to be resolved in the Vosges? "I give myself a 10% chance of getting on the podium"
“Everyone's legs already hurt,” sighed Carlos Rodríguez at the Poligny finish line after another day of rock and roll in this Tour of Wonders, which this Saturday faces its last competitive stage, a beautiful and instant ride through the Vosges, barely 132 kilometers but six ports between Belfort and Le Markstein. With the yellow sentenced in favor of Jonas Vingegaard, several incentives still remain, open fronts to resolve where a year ago Annemiek Van Vleuten starred in a beautiful feat.
Mohoric culminates by millimeters an electric stage as a classic through the Jura
The objective of the UAE, once the total victory has been ruled out, are those two places in the Paris drawer. The Briton, who showed great condition in Courchevel, is mainly threatened by Carlos Rodríguez, fourth at 1:16 and with all the support of Ineos to play attack. A little further behind rides Simon Yates at 1:34 behind his brother. And, without making much noise, sixth is Pello Bilbao, 2:05 from a podium that would be “historic” for him. “The third week has always been my forte. When it's so hard, so aerobic, from previous experiences I knew I was going to perform well”, confessed these days from Bahrain, who gave himself “a 10%” chance: “The race will go crazy, anything can happen. When the forces are at the limit, two minutes is not so much”. Since Alejandro Valverde in 2015 there has not been a Spaniard on the Tour podium. “It's a dream,” admits Pello.
Pogacar's revenge
The bad taste in Pogacar's mouth after his hecatomb on Wednesday in the Alps still beats within the UAE. With caution ahead and expectations of the Slovenian's health, as soon as his forces return to accompany him, there is no doubt that he will want to say goodbye to the Tour with a partial victory, which would be his 11th at 24 years of age.
The terrain seems propitious, without rest from Belfort, a minefield by Alsace. Six ports are climbed, 3,600 meters of cumulative unevenness in 132 kilometers, the last two in the first category, the Petit Ballon (9.3 km at 8.1%) and the Col du Platzerwasel (7.1 km at 8.3%). “It's going to be tough. I hope that my legs, my body and my mind are already recovered. The last couple of days have been hard too, we'll see how I am tomorrow. In any case, I felt better than yesterday. We have a very powerful team and we are going to go for the stage victory”, confessed Tadej after the Poligny stage won by his compatriot Mohoric.
The mountain jersey
Ciccone, with the mountain jersey. EFE
Yesterday Jasper Philipsen sentenced the green jersey of regularity. If he doesn't have mishaps between here and Paris, the Belgian will do it for the second consecutive year. The target of the youngsters also seems clear, for the fourth and last time, for Pogacar. However, the one with red dots worn by Giulio Ciccone is more open than ever before in the last six climbs of the Tour.
Since 1992 an Italian is not done with this achievement. Claudio Chiappucci was the last. But it is not easy for Lidl Trek, who only leads Felix Gall by six points and Jonas Vingegaard, the last winner, by seven. Farther away and with almost no options appears Powless, the runner who took him the most during this Tour. “Gall and Vingegaard would be my names to watch out for.”. However, I don't really need to keep an eye on anyone. I simply have to go all out and collect as many points as possible,” Ciccone confessed this Friday, who was already champion of the mountains in the 2019 Giro.