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    The Inner Ring | Tour de France Stage 14 Preview

    The Tour heads into the Pyrenees for the weekend. Today is the sprint version, tomorrow the marathon.

    TGV (Tour à Grande Vitesse): a morning tour of the paddock and masks were back in fashion. First the Bahrain team on Wednesday, now more. It’s contagious. Spanish media said Juan Ayuso had Covid but with light symptoms, only he was quickly dropped and quit.

    A crosswind provoked the bunch like a stick jammed into a wasps’ nest. Victor Campenaerts launched the move and Mathieu van der Poel joined in. The race never stopped buzzing. The average speed was hovering around 50km/h for two hours. A break of 23 riders coalesced and in it was Adam Yates, 7th overall at seven minutes. He probably learned plenty of foreign swear words as his presence condemned the move. Visma, Soudal-Quickstep and Ineos could not afford to let the group take time.

    It was a crafty move as Pogačar’s rivals were burning up energy on the eve of a weekend in the mountains. And they had to work for it, at one point Visma formed their own echelon in an attempt to close the gap but it didn’t work. They got help from the sprinters’ teams, while up front the move was too big and some riders started to sit on. Then Magnus Cort attacked to form a quartet but this was too small to elude the chasing bunch, or what was left of it with less than 80 riders, the bunch shredded by the effort and some hills in the final. Dylan Groenewegen was among many dropped which was notable given how hard Jayco had worked earlier.

    No teams have managed to get a train to line out the sprints this Tour and coming into Pau it was a hectic and hesitant, Jonas “Abracadabra” Abrahamsen even took a flyer with 3km to go. Maxim Van Gils tried to go past Amaury Capiot in his bid to lead out Arnaud De Lie but took him out instead. Up ahead Christophe Laporte led Wout van Aert but ended up dropping him off with still 300m to go, too early? Van Aert thought so and held back but by now Jasper Philipsen had launched his sprint and came past to stay away for his second stage win.

    A paradox of the predicted outcome but only after a demented day’s racing. In the mix for the sprint Pogačar said, with a cough, he might race more defensively which would be a turn up for the books. It was the eighth fastest road stage in Tour history, and no tailwind.

    The Route: 152km and 4,000m of vertical gain, most of which is crammed into 75km. A passage by Lourdes, a place that puts the grotty in Grotto (Emile Zola’s “Lourdes” sees the main character Marie de Guersaint horrified at the amount of junk sold and that was 1894). Then it’s into the Pyrenees, a place where nothing changes and everything feels a bit dated but comfortable, like visiting your grandparents’ house when you were a kid.

    The Tourmalet needs little introduction. Climbed from Luz meaning the easier side, just, it’s atypical of the Pyrenees with its length and regular slope and is followed by a familiar descent.

    The Hourquette is not hors-catégorie, just a nice backroad alternative to the Col d’Aspin as it’s more irregular. So is the descent, probably the most technical part of the course today. There’s a brief valley road approach, five kilometres for those last caffeinated gels.

    The Finish: the Pla d’Adet climb is a tough one. 10.6km at 7.9% is plenty but there’s a steep start to help prompt a selection from the start and later by Espiaube it flattens out which the profile doesn’t show but it means that when the road is rising it’s often steep.

    The Contenders: can the breakaway make it? We could see UAE more hesitant today as they gauge Visma’s form and both teams go head to head tomorrow.

    It’ll be hard for the breakaway to form, one way is for a climber capable of winning to go with a team mate who can help tow them clear; the other is to hope the battle rages and instead they can make their move on the Tourmalet.

    Jai Hindley is a breakaway pick now Red Bull are without Primož Roglič. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) is stage-hunting. Richard Carapaz tried hard yesterday but should be ok today, while Ben Healy is the other candidate from EF. DSM trio Romain Bardet, Oscar Onley and Warren Barguil have a chance here. Tom Pidcock (Ineos) pointed out he was very light for the gravel stage so this suits more and he can play his own cards, Laurens De Plus might be reserved as a sherpa. Chris Harper (Jayco) is climbing well but yet to win big.

    If it’s a GC battle then who to pick between Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-LAB) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE)? The Dane seems to be in the ascendant but Pogačar normally has the punch for the finish. So if anything Vingegaard needs to move early on the final climb where it is steepest, easier said than done and he might prefer to pester Pogačar by staying with him.

    Vingegaard, Pogačar
    Hindley, Pidcock, Carapaz, Healy, Harper, Gaudu, Bardet

    Weather: sunshine and clouds, just 21°C in the valleys and much cooler at altitude.

    TV: KM0 is at 1.20pm CEST and the finish is forecast for 5.30pm CEST. The Tourmalet starts at 2.50pm.

    Postcard from Saint-Lary-Soulan
    Many places want to establish themselves as a cycling destinations, particularly ski areas keen to enjoy a lucrative summer season. Saint-Lary-Soulan is one such place and hosting the Tour de France helps.

    The Pla d’Adet ski area dates from 1965 and it shows, both in a good way with retro architecture that vibes Barbara Moore soundtracks and a needs-a-new-coat-of-paint way. It probably looked sparkling when the Tour first came in 1974. The race is revisiting on the 50th anniversary of the stage win by Raymond Poulidor. The 38 year old surged on the final climb and even Eddy Merckx could not respond. Merckx would win the 1974 Tour overall and Poulidor finished second, of course.

    The same day saw “voice of cycling” Daniel Mangeas comment the stage over the PA system at the finish after the lead speaker’s car broke down, 50 years later and Mangeas is still going, he was the speaker at the recent French championships… in his own village of Saint-Martin-de-Landelles.

    More recently Saint-Lary-Soulan has paved the Col de Portet in 2018, creating a new climb for road cyclists and got the Tour de France to christen it with a summit finish in 2018 and 2021. As the pass is only paved on one side it’s a cul-de-sac for road cyclists and so maybe not a big draw, you can visit to do it but that’s it. If you’re in the area the Hourquette d’Ancizan and the Col d’Azet are nearby. So is the 22km climb to the Lac de Cap Long which has yet to feature in the Tour de France but probably ought to as this offers so much with scenery. It would really put Saint-Lary-Soulan on the map.

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