The Tour resumes with the only solo time trial of the race this year.
Gamelles et Solaison: it shouldn’t be news to anyone that Jonas Vingegaard is out of the Tour. It was evident when he climbed into the ambulance, and then the way the rest of the stage was ridden with the pace in the final of Tadej Pogačar set for Isaac del Toro which allowed Remco Evenepoel to take along and then take the stage. If there was a gift it was probably Pogačar trying to help Del Toro which in turn helped Evenepoel.
The third week looks like it’ll see more of this. UAE will work to protect Del Toro’s podium spot – TT result pending – and RedBull have an interest in cementing Evenepoel’s second place overall too so two big squads looking to shut the others.
Jonas Vingegaard might not have troubled Pogačar but as we saw on the Tourmalet and Haag he was causing all sorts of trouble for Evenepoel. And his team were riding hard, see how they were leading the chase on Sunday’s stage. Now they’ll focus on stage wins instead and consequently some stages should be more open to the breakaways.
The Route: uphill from almost the first pedal stroke and it’s like this all the way for 11km. It’s never steep, a steady 4% almost all the way where it’s easy to feel good at the start but sustaining the pace to top of the climb is harder, and a test of back muscles in the TT position as much as legs and lungs.
The descent looks like it goes down like it went up on the profile. However, first it’s more a passage across some rolling road doesn’t come right away. Later it’s steeper and twistier as goes down a small canyon. It’s been freshly surfaced for the Tour and so looks even faster but the workers haven’t done the best job with the big roller, it’s got little bumps all over the place which are probably invisible to anyone driving in a car but hit one on a bike at 70km/h just as you try to line up or brake for a bend… it just requires more thought, it’s nothing wild. We’re talking micro undulations on fresh tarmac rather than potholes and most riders should have already picked this up on their recon rides.
It’s twisty around the streets of Thonon including two very brief sections of surprisingly gnarly cobbles – the Nokereberg is smoother, it’ll pay to ease the bike over the stones – before a slight kick up the line.
The Contenders: Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) is the obvious as this is his speciality, he’s in form, he’s climbing well and the amount of climbing gives him an advantage on the pure specialists.
Tadej Pogačar (UAE) has a real shot at victory here as the climb is terrain he can push on and descent and the final in the streets of Thonon suit someone able to brake and accelerate several times. How motivated is he for the stage win? Secure in yellow with five minutes’ lead he can afford to manage his efforts in the third week.
It’s hard to see others get a look in. Filippo Ganna and Josh Tarling (Netcompany-Ineos) would prefer flatter stages even if they can cope with a slope and they’ve been able to rest for this day, likewise Edoardo Affini (Visma-LAB) while Daan Hoole (Decathlon-CMA CGM) has been working more in recent days.
A reminder that Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) is an excellent time trial rider, he’s beaten Evenepoel before so even if his climbing is coming up short he could do well here but a win is a big ask.
Weather: 27°C and a 10km/h wind from the NE which means a light tailwind uphill, faster but also hotter.
TV: First rider Kamil Gradek is off at 1.00pm and Tadej Pogačar starts at 5.15pm CEST and should finish roughly half an hour later.