Stage 20
Belfort to Steino.
🎵 Steino, there’s only one Steino, there’s only one Steino. 🎵
In the Vosges and hard with a capital Fucking. Rolling, mountains, fatigue, angst.
I’ve been looking forward to this stage for a couple of weeks. A bit less so now the GC battle is so dead in the water that calling it the Titanic wouldn’t be misplaced.
However, there should be some intrigue and suspense. Not like True Detective or Cracker but slightly more genteel like a Midsummer Murders or Father Brown.
Campanaerts attacked from the gun (yay) and Lotto have seemingly decided that because Ewan’s showing was so pitiful and he quit like a gutless coward (or that’s what Heulot wanted to say) that they shall just attack, get in breaks and be a visible presence. For a team who have no clear leader or purpose in the race, that seems to make perfect sense to me. Thus, two Lotto riders go up the road and the peloton spreads across the road, like a lazy giant after a particularly filling lunch and appear to be considering a nap.
The order of the day is 2nd cat, 2nd cat, 2nd cat, 3rd cat, 1st cat, 1st cat. Nothing is savage in gradient or length (save for a short section of 18% at one point) but it’s stage 20 so whether you’ve ridden into form or not, it will begin to hurt. Some people will hurt a lot quicker than other though.
Peloton get bored and chase down the Lotto guys on the first ascent (Ballon d’Alsace.) Ineos race radio crackles into some type of life and reports that UAE want to win the stage. If that’s the case, then the breakaway is going to struggle. Ciccone is twitching about mountains point but it is impossible for me to look beyond the hideousness of his polka dots. Lidl-Trek are controlling it to calm Ciccone, but he is a volcanic character and not someone who is given to hiding his feelings so if someone tries to take ‘his’ points, he could go ballistic. Anticipation builds as teams swarm towards the top of the climb and then nothing happens at all. Ciccone just eases off the front, takes the points, lights a cigar and sits back and inhales deeply.
The drama is on the first descent of the day though and Rodriguez is off and bleeding from the arm and the face above the eye. Concussion protocol surely? He is a mess. Arms bashed and bruised, same for legs and the blood is running down from above his eye down his face. He lost his front wheel and it looks like he was ridden over too. Kuss has also been down and damn his face is also bloody and battered.
The bunch has split and Vingegaard is in the front but Pogacar in the second group. Rodriguez is 1 min 18s down on the reduced yellow jersey group and UAE are drilling it to close the 15s gap. I don’t know why Kuss and Rodriguez haven’t been spoken to by the doctor yet, unless they have and I missed it. Initially Kuss looked like he was just cut on the arm but he may actually be worse off than Rodriguez. In profile, Rodriguez looks fine from the his right-hand side but a real state from the left. Akin to a Lycra clad Harvey Dent.
In the front group, Barguil told Vingegaard to do one, which was great. No-one wants the leader in the break group as you are pretty much stuffed if he is as he is always going to get chased down. The Dane duly does that and slides back into the chase group. Situation at 80km to go is a lead group with 30s gap over the yellow jersey bunch and the break of the day seems to be formed. Pidcock, Ciccone, Skeljmose, Pinot and Barguil are the main men of note.
Ciccone takes the second climb of the day and gets closer to owning the jersey. Madouas is in a small group 30s behind, but far more pressingly, he is wearing the French national jersey and it is completely devoid of sponsors’ logos and looks magnificent. Well, as magnificent as the tricolore ever can… I kid of course, lest the Perpignan branch of our supporters club are reading. For Kuss though, there are 70km remaining and he is being tailed off by the yellow jersey group. Given that he his face has been in familiar contact with the road, it’s not a surprise.
70km to the finish. Pinot gets across into the break and the gap to Vingegaard et al is 60s. Ciccone takes the next set of points on the climb and secures the title. Fist-pumping to celebrate as he crests the climb and is the first Italian to take this classification the TdF in 30 years. That allows me to forgive his attire for 30 seconds, then the nausea sweeps over me again. ‘Will nobody think of the children?’
35km to go and onto the Petit Ballon. 9.3km at 10%. GC group are 1 min 20s in arrears. The break splits and Pinot, Pidcock, Barguil, Madouas and Ciccone have taken to the front. Pinot looks turbo-powered today and the peloton is 1 min 30s. Commentators getting nostalgic and practically singing La Marseiallise. I hope he gets caught on the line. Fuck it, I said it. I think it would be hilarious. I’ve never warmed to him. His smacked arse face when things weren’t going his way became very dull, very quickly. When you factor in that his nodding dog style gives me motion sickness, I’m in the camp of ‘Non, Thibaut.’
Pinot headed over the penultimate climb with a 30s lead over Pidcock, and Barguil and 1 min 20s on the GC guys. Gaudu crashes on the descent but no-one cares that the Frenchman in 10th place has had a fall because Pinot is engaging in a bid for victory (which will fail.) UAE and Jumbo are pulling but the gap to Pinot isn’t really ebbing. It will though, it always does, doesn’t it Thibaut. Gaudu may have crashed but he still moves into 9th by default because Kuss has lost such a lot of time. Three French riders all moved up a place into 11th (Pinot,) 10th (Martin) and Gaudu. If ever there was an insight into GC contenders. Their movement about came due to someone else’s misfortune.
15km to go. 7.1km of which is the final climb, before 7.9km to the finish. 10s to the two chasers and 1 min 08s to the GC group. Pogacar attacks, Vingegaard goes with him and then they both knock of the pace and Gall catches and passes them. Pinot is caught by Barguil and Pidcock. Vingegaard, Gall and Pogacar are 10s behind and are sort of riding, sort of not.
Gall decides that he may as well push the pace and he moves away with Vingegaard and Pogacar and they catch and pass the leaders. Behind them, S Yates is trying to make a move of his own. It’s been a decent stage and in the final few km of the final ascent of the race, some jabs are being thrown but aside from the three out front, everyone looks jaded and that’s no surprise. A Yates crosses to his brother and now Rodriguez has to react if he can or the podium is done.
Gall is doing all the work. Weird as he can’t make up significant time to move up the GC. Yellow jersey should be made to work here as it’s not as if Pogacar is going to gift Gall the stage. Hmm.
9km to go. 1km remains uphill and then the climbing is done. Pidcock is working his arse off for Rodriguez after being in the break for most of the day and the Spaniard looks battered, blood still all over his face. Leading three are 18s ahead of Yates brothers and Rodriguez is 53s behind the leaders. It’s surreally funny because Gall is riding like a man possessed and Vingegaard and Pogacar are looking at each other as if Gall doesn’t exist. The assumption is that Gall is the weakest in a sprint and I see it that way too, but hey, Gall is enjoying his form and why not?
5km to go and Yates A and Yates S join the trio at the front. Gall is going to get royally mugged. Someone has a flare and I can see no reason why the people who wield them should not complain if they were anally probed with the spent canister. Or even with the the functional canister.
Flamme rouge.
A Yates leading out his teammate. Sprint opens up at 300m to go. Pog takes it from Gall and Pogacar is as demonstrative as I’ve ever seen.
Rodriguez loses time and a place on GC which seems cruel after his crash, but it’s all in the game as Omar told us. An exciting, eventful stage of what has been a fine TdF.
Yellow - Vingegaard
Points - Philipsen
Mountains - Ciccone
Young rider - Pogacar
Stage
Pogacar
Gall
Vingegaard
GC
Vingegaard
Pogacar at 7 mins 29s
A Yates at 10 mins 56s
S Yates at 12 mins 23s
Rodriguez at 13 mins 17s
Bilbao at 13 mins 27s
Winners
Pogacar
Took a stage and looked like he was a man possessed as he did so. This guy needs to keep racing as he does. Classics, minor races, the lot. The TdF is king, but I’m more interested in seeing him do everything and light it up.
Pidcock
Had struggled a little in the mountains as the race wore on, pretty naturally I would say, as he’s trying to wear a lot of hats in multiple disciplines. Rode out of his skin in the break and again for Rodriguez.
Yates brothers.
Neither had their frequent horrendous day and were always in contention around the third step on the podium. Likeable riders and in another era would have been heralded by British fans. We have to remember how spoiled for talent Britain is. A top three TdF finish would have been SPOTY nomination-worthy in the not too distant past.
Gall
Debut TdF and has been a revelation on the longer, steadier climbs. Big future if he doesn’t get ruined at AG2R or stuck in a battle for leadership with O’Connor. I doubt that will happen though, as Gall should be the TdF principle.
Kuss and Rodriguez.
Both lost places on the GC but finished the stage after half caving their faces in. Whether they should have continued or not is up for debate, but their status as hard as nails is not.
Losers
Pinot.
Today was Pinot in a nutshell. ‘He just might do it.’ Proceeds to not do it. I probably have an irrational distaste for him. It’s not Mas level, but he is so bloody predictable.
Vingegaard
Inexplicably spent large sections at the approach to the top of the final climb looking behind at Pogacar as if by some type of nervous habit. It was just odd. He didn’t want to be jumped by him, but he had a lead of over 7 mins on GC and it managed to make him look a bit desperate.
Lafay
Abandoned on the penultimate stage. Been a tough week for him after his interview where he admitted that descending scares him literally rigid. It was a very open piece and quite eye-opening for a pro to say what he did. He’s only a loser because he came so close to Paris and didn’t quite make it.