With the intermediate sprint just before the start of the climb of the Tourmelet it was pretty certain there was not going to be a break till after the sprint. IN the sprint it was Milan, MVDP then Girmay as sort of expected. Right past the sprint who other than Quinn Simmons was at the front but then saw Tadej and others up there at the front as the 17+K climb to the top of the HC club started. With a hilly stage tomorrow this was going to be the last chance to maybe put the hurt on Tadej - a big maybe - before the rest day Monday so was going to make for an interesting stage - would a break even be allowed to go on such a difficult climb. Usually on days like this they let a break go early but the sprint point got in the way of allowing that.
With a break ahead back with the rest Remco was coming off the back and with 100K to go dropped out of the TdF. Will have to hear if it was anything in particular or just that he did not have it but that opened one less person to fight for the podium - looking particularly for the third step for now.
Going up the third climb, the Cat 1 Peyresourde, it was Ineos's Thymen Arensman pushing the pace up front. He has shown in this tour he is one of the better climbers and was pushing to gain all he could with with the HC climb of Superbagneres to finish this stage off.
So with a 3:12 lead for Arensman going into the last climb, funny as had been climbing for some time before the official start of the climb, the question was if it was enough. When watching the race my guess it was up to Vingegaard as while I thought Tadej would for sure want the win he also wants to conserve as he really has to do nothing but just stay where he is to win it all. So the onus is all on Jonas as he is the one who has to gain time. The gap to the front was for sure one Tadej, and assume Jonas, could close but would they.
As I sort of expected Jonas made the first move and Tadej seemed to effortlessly just stay with him. Tadej then put in a little kick - seemed more like just a small test - and then Jonas went again but Tadej again just stayed on his wheel - sorta telling Jonas he was ready for anything. At the time it was a question if Arensman would stay out there as the big two were racing each other and was a question if that would lead them to get him - but looked like he would be safe.
Funny hearing Phil Liggett talk about how strong Jonas looked - and he looked better than other days - but it seemed clear to me Tadej just wanted to get the bonus time at the end and thus get some rest and go at it after the rest day. The more Jonas and Tadej just watched each other the more Arensman was looking sure of winning the stage.
The end played out as I was thinking with Tadej making sure Jons knew he was there and if Jonas rode hard enough to catch Arensman then he would go ro the win, if not then get the 2nd place bonus seconds and any others that may come. In the end they did not catch Arensman so he was rewarded for his hard work, does not always play out that way, and Tadej not only out-sprinted Jonas for second and the time bonus, 6 seconds as opposed to Jonas' 4 seconds. HE also got an audition 2 seconds based on getting a small gap.
While Arensman winning and Tadej not losing time - even gaining some - is news maybe the biggest news was Remco calling it a tour. From what I read it was his team that told him to call it over as he just did not have the energy to keep up and was on his 3rd bad day. Have no idea what the issue is but also may be that no matter how good a rider he is - and he is good - he may not be a GC rider, at least for the tour. He seems to struggle when it gets tough on 3 week tours - we shall see.
So what will happen tomorrow - the normal thing would be for the big two to take it easy to get ready for next week - but things don't seem to go as normal. The stage tomorrow is listed as hilly with a couple Cat 3's and a Cat 2 but there is a final 42k to the finish that is down hill. Since the intermediate sprint points are at about 60K figure till then the Lidel-Trek, Alpecin and Inter-Marche will work to keep things together or if a small break is there then close enough to catch. After that I would not be surprised if they do not let a break go - Hey maybe Quinn can get in this one for the win.
Race Highlights:
- Winner - Thymen Arensman
- Yellow Jersey - Tadej Pogacar
- Green Jersey - Jonathan Milan
- Polkadot Jersey - Lenny Matrinez
- While Jersey - Florian Lipowitz
GC W/Time Gaps
1) Tadej Pogacar
2) Jonas Vengegaard - +04:13
3) Florian Lipowitz - +07:53
4) Oscar Onley - +09:18
5) Kevin Vauquelin - +10:21
6) Primoz Roglic - +10:34
7) Felix Gall - +12:00
8) Tobias Johannessen - +12:33
9) Ben Healy - +18:41
10) Carlos Rodriquez - +22:57
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