Who’s Successful the Tour?
Just after additional than two weeks of racing, Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Staff Emirates) wears the yellow jersey as the total leader of the 2021 Tour de France just after Stage 15. The 22-12 months-outdated effectively defended his guide on Phase 15, a difficult phase through the Pyrenees and into Andorra.
Pogačar’s workforce was pressured to set the pace from the beginning of Stage 15, sitting down on the entrance all working day right after a group of 32 riders went up the highway. Crammed with phase hunters, polka dot jersey contenders, and teammates of several of the riders chasing Pogačar, the move compelled UAE Workforce Emirates to sit on the entrance of the bunch, driving tempo on a working day that observed substantial temperatures and even bigger altitude. As a consequence, Pogačar uncovered himself isolated in the finale, outnumbered by teams like INEOS, Jumbo-Visma, and EF Training-Nippo.
The phase arrived down to the ultimate climb of the working day, the Group 1 Col de Beixalis (6.4km at 8.5%), won by American Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) just after paying all day in the breakaway. The 26-yr-outdated Kuss adopted the first accelerations on the steep reduce slopes of the climb in advance of finally launching an attack of his individual riding solo about the best of the climb, he led Spain’s Alejandro Valverde by only 20 seconds. But the former mountain biker from Durango, Colorado preserved his guide down the climb’s technological descent, driving solo into Andorra la Vieille to just take the major win of his vocation. Valverde finished second and the Netherland’s Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) took 3rd.
Even though Kuss was using absent to gain the phase, riders took turns attacking from the yellow jersey team further more down the col with Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (INEOS-Grenadiers), Australia’s Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën Staff), Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran (EF Education and learning-Nippo) every creating assaults to check out and crack Pogačar. But the Slovenian protected each and every acceleration, easily defending the yellow jersey.
Who’s Genuinely Successful the Tour?
Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates team continues to glance weaker and weaker as the Tour progresses. The team selected not to place a rider in the day’s big breakaway nowadays, a tactical miscalculation as the Slovenian identified himself entirely isolated at the best of the Port d’Envalira, the day’s penultimate climb. INEOS, on the other hand, place Dylan van Baarle and Jonathan Castroviejo in the breakaway and both equally dropped back again at the summit to wait for Geraint Thomas and Richard Carapaz in the GC group, providing Carapaz 3 teammates to assistance him as a result of the ultimate hour of racing.
But in the stop, it didn’t make a difference considerably, as Pogačar experienced no challenges defending the yellow jersey on his very own. Attacked by each of the riders chasing him, the Slovenian remained calm, covering each acceleration and even having a several digs of his own as if to remind every person, “This is my Tour de France.” And he may possibly be right.
Pogačar enters the Tour’s next Relaxation Working day main Uran by 5:18 and Vingegaard by 5:32, with Carapaz in fourth at 5:33. At some point soon, these a few riders will start off attacking just one an additional in a bid to stand beside Pogačar on the remaining podium in Paris. This will gain the Slovenian, as he can sit again and enjoy his closest competitors attempt and eradicate one particular an additional, following their moves in defense of his yellow jersey.
What About the Tour’s Other Classifications?
Good Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Fast Phase) survived a different rough working day in the mountains and wears the environmentally friendly jersey as the chief of the Tour’s Details Classification. Australia’s Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) is 2nd, 72 details powering Cavendish. Assuming Cavendish would make it through the relaxation of the Pyrenees, he should really get the second environmentally friendly jersey of his career.
Poels did adequate on Phase 15 to take again the polka dot jersey as the chief of the Tour’s King of the Mountains classification. He potential customers Canada’s Mike Woods (Isreal Start off-Up Nations) by 8 factors and Colombia’s Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) by 10. With a few a lot more times in the mountains, this levels of competition is significantly from about.
And as he’s only 22 several years outdated, Pogačar prospects the Tour’s Best Youthful Rider level of competition. But Vingegaard, who’s at present second in the classification, wears the white jersey because even Pogačar simply cannot have on two jerseys at after.