Stage 4 and its into the Alps… and over them with the mighty Galibier.
Tour du monde : the longest stage and a breather of sorts, intensity traded for distance. We got a brief flurry from Fabien Grellier that saw him get the combativity prize for the day but the stage was almost a sprint certainty. The only question was the winner.
As the price of real estate at the front rose on the approach to Torino there was a crash for Casper Pedersen. He was back on his bike but later diagnosed with a cracked collarbone, presumably a non-starter today leaving Soudal-Quickstep a man down.
Philipsen was the pre-race pick but his chances dipped when Mathieu van der Poel punctured in the streets, then dived when a crash caused a split in the field with 2.5km to go, Bryan Coquard wobbled, took out colleague Alexis Renard and a wave from this felled more behind. Other sprinters survived but no team was left in control. Lidl-Trek had a go and dropped off Mads Pedersen with 250m to go but this was long.
Biniam Girmay didn’t need his team; they’d been leading out Gerben Thijssen and presumably not as a decoy. Instead he had the perfect cocktail of power, timing and good fortune. He was able to launch on the right of the road just when an opening arose and if Pedersen moved right, he didn’t close the door. As he faded in the wind Girmay pulled out a lead, enough to sit up and celebrate. It’s Intermarché-Wanty’s first win in the Tour and the first for an Eritrean.
Another sprinter was Richard Carapaz, 14th on the stage and with this came the yellow jersey thanks to countback. Just for a day it’s worth it for him, for his team it’s even bigger and it’ll be interesting to see if he keeps it because he could enjoy a long spell. He looks to be climbing well but it might not be decided by countback given the course and climbs, he’ll have to ensure no time gaps open up. As Romain Bardet knows “just follow Pogačar” is not easy.
The Route: just 140km but 3,600m of vertical gain. There are harder mountain stages to come and that’s fine given it’s only Tuesday. It’s up the Chisone valley where the river gradually turns to white water and then the climb to Sestriere, it’s all on a big main road and a gradual ascent with few difficulties. Likewise the Montgenèvre, 8km at 6% and a transport artery between Italy and France.
The Finish: the main road climbing continues with the Col du Lautaret, for 14km it’s a steady slog suitable for large trucks and with few surprises. Then there’s a right turn and it’s the Galibier and 8.5km at 7% with some sustained 9% sections, and all at altitude. At the top there’s the time bonus of 8-5-2 seconds for the first three. It’s an HC climb with 20 points but Jonas Abrahamsen has 24 points so winning the Galibier alone isn’t sufficient to get the polka dots.
It’s followed by a fast descent with some long straight sections down to Valloire and exactly the same finish as used in 2019, down into the resort and then a small slope back up to the line in the final kilometre.
The Contenders: Tadej Pogačar (UAE) both for his climbing ability and his sprint because he can hope to beat anyone with him in the streets of Valloire. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-LAB) might fancy his chances, he matched Pogačar on the San Luca and if he can create a gap on the Galibier – scene of their duel in 2022, although the other direction – then the rehab is more than on trakc.
Primož Roglič (Redbull) would have been today’s second pick because of his sprint but events in Bologna make things harder. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) might even be a better pick as when he’s in form he’s punchy too.
Giulio Ciccone (Lidl) is fast and so is Pello Bilbao (Bahrain) but the names before could be faster. This is the descent where Tom Pidcock (Ineos) was filmed on his way to the Alpe d’Huez stage win but he can win from a sprint, the question is can he show the climbing pace needed in order to be able to make a winning move?
Has the breakaway got a chance? Yes if enough riders fancy their chances at the start because if you are a climber down on GC already then you have an opportunity to seize, there are not many and ideally you can have a team mate in the move to help tow it clear. We’ll see if Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) can try or if he is rinsed from too much racing, likewise David Gaudu and if he’s over Covid. Cofidis trio Ion Izagirre, Simon Geshke and Jesus Herrada fit the bill, as does Wout Poels (Bahrain). Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-Samsic) can try too. It’ll be tough but we’ll see what big teams do, will UAE want to test Vingegaard today? Probably, it could be risky in case of a counter-attack so better to be delicate rather than smash it all day?
 |
– |
 |
Pogačar, Vingegaard |
 |
Evenepoel, Vauquelin, Poels, Herrada, Roglič, Pidcock |
Weather: mainly sunny and 23°C. The Lautaret is synonymous with an afternoon headwind but it’ll be a gentle one today. Cold at altitude, less than 10°C at the Galibier.
TV: KM0 is at 1.15pm CEST and the finish is forecast for 5.20pm CEST. There could be a lively start for the breakaway but if you’re rationing your viewing, the race reaches Briançon around 3.30pm for the start of the Lautaret and at 4.30pm the Galibier proper begins.
Postcard from the Col du Galibier
How high is the Galibier pass? 2,642m officially, even if the sign at the top says 2,645m. It’s been used by the Tour since 1911 but for most of the time the altitude was 2,556m because when the road was built this included the construction of a tunnel allowing travellers to go through the mountain rather than over it.
This is why the six metre high Henri Desgrange memorial is here, when it was built in 1949 in tribute to the Tour de France founder and director who had died in 1940 it was placed at the highest point possible at the time.
It was only in the 1970s that the pass as we know it today exists. The old tunnel was crumbling and so the road was extended to climb up to the ridge above where a portion was blasted away. This “new” road is 900m long with a vertical gain of 90 metres.
This is arguably the hardest part of the climb. For cyclists the tunnel is a tempting option, a short cut, a flat respite and some shade too. But cyclists are not allowed through under the traffic regulations. Is anyone checking? But those who have come this far might as well do the full climb. Still to be tempted is to be in good company as when it the Galibier was first crossed in 1911 the stage winner that day Emile Georget was asked about the tunnel and is said to have replied “they should have built it lower down“.