Escorted by his UAE Emirates armada, Tadej Pogacar took back the yellow jersey of the Tour de France by winning solo this Tuesday in Valloire, after cleaning up on the slopes of Galibier. A first big move that was perfectly thought out.
A day at work. Nothing more, nothing less. Apart from a “vamoooos” let out at the top of his lungs by the tireless Juan Ayuso as he put down his bike, and a quick hug between sports directors, the UAE Emirates coach gave the impression of having experienced a more than peaceful afternoon this Tuesday, during the 4th stage of the Tour de France. Only Catalan fans of Marc Soler who came to ask their darling for a selfie, and Portuguese tourists who were a little too insistent with Joao Almeida for the taste of the local police, were responsible for raising the decibels in Valloire. However, the 2024 vintage Tour has just experienced its first coup de force in the Alps. And it is the work of a Slovenian glutton visibly determined to mark his territory. It seems that Tadej Pogacar had missed the yellow since he let Richard Carapaz enjoy it for only one day.
The tempo imposed by his sherpas, whether it was Nils Politt on the flat sections or Tim Wellens at the foot of the Galibier, quickly set the tone for what was to follow during this fourth stage, the link between Italy and France. Almeida and Juan Ayuso took charge of taking over on the steepest slopes, in a magical, snowy setting above 2,000 metres, to wring out what was left of the group of favourites and swallow up the last survivors of the breakaway. A banderilla placed 800 metres from the summit finally brought Jonas Vingegaard to his knees, unable to catch his rival despite a fast-paced descent alongside Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel and the other favourites who had been sent to the ropes a little earlier.
>>> Relive the 4th stage of the Tour de France
Almeida: “We are proud of our work”
Overall, Pogacar is back on top, now 45 seconds ahead of Evenepoel and 50 ahead of Vingegaard. Not a KO but a solid uppercut? “It’s a perfect day for the team,” summed up Frenchman Pavel Sivakov, one of “Pogi’s” loyal lieutenants at UAE, at the finish. “We did a great job, we really executed the plan as we wanted. We wanted to get the jersey back by setting a big pace in the Galibier and especially gain time on Tadej’s competitors like Vingegaard or Remco. That’s what was done. Tadej was very confident this morning, we were all super motivated.” After dropping the yellow on Monday, to have an evening lightened by media obligations, and perhaps to join in the collective game of fools, the goal of the day was clear: to bare our teeth in the Galibier and hurt everyone.
Or, in Pogacar’s own words, having “big balls” to win this first battle. “We followed the plan, which was very good. Everyone did a good job, the eight guys were perfect. We are proud of our work, it paid off in the end. It’s just a shame that there was a headwind, but otherwise it was a good day. During the whole last 30km climb, we had a headwind. It was very hard for everyone, but we did it”, savored Almeida on his recovery home trainer. The Portuguese, who was seen barking at Ayuso about the tactics to follow in the Galibier, wanted to be cautious, however. No question of talking about a hammer blow, even less of a potential raid by the UAE, much superior in the Galibier to the Visma-Lease a bike of an isolated Vingegaard and a tone below.
Gianetti: “Tadej is stronger than last year”
“The goal is not to go 1-2-3 on this Tour,” Almeida recalled. “The goal is to win with Tadej. If we can do a bit more, we won’t hold back of course, but I’m focused on my work for Tadej, that’s the goal. The rest is a bonus.” No question of getting too excited for Matxin Fernandez, UAE’s sports director: “We have the victory, we have a 45-second lead over the second-placed rider, 50 over Vingegaard. But there have only been four stages. This is only the first mountain stage, there’s still the time trial (Friday), the gravel (Sunday with the white paths of Troyes)… There are still complicated stages. We’re taking it step by step.” But then why did they give up the lead in Turin only to get it back immediately? “These are the racing situations,” smiled the Spaniard. “Yesterday there was the sprint, we didn’t want a crash. Losing the jersey was not a problem.”
Launched in the assault of a Giro-Tour de France double not achieved since Marco Pantani in 1998, Pogacar wanted to take advantage of this first meeting at high altitude to send a clear message: to beat him and his armada of galactics, it will be necessary to be damn strong. “Tadej said he felt good this morning,” confirmed his manager Mauro Gianetti. “He’s in a condition he’s never had before. He’s very strong, stronger than last year. And it’s a good thing to have three of our riders in front in the general classification (Ayuso and Almeida are 4th and 8th). The Tour has just started, we have to stay focused, but we started well, we’re happy. We’re maybe better than we hoped. We put the pressure on today. We’ll see day by day, but it’s true that Tadej is in very good condition. We didn’t hide it, he came out of the Giro well and prepared well for the Tour.”
Positive attitude among rivals
In the opposing camp, the talking points were not long in coming. “It’s a small victory for us to be so close behind,” dared Vingegaard, joined in his analysis by his teammate Matteo Jorgenson. “Jonas, I thought he was good. He wanted things to go faster in the Galibier to reduce Pogacar’s explosiveness, but neither me nor Wilco (Kelderman) were there. We’re not sad, we had imagined that we were going to lose time this first week, it’s not the end of the world,” assured the American. No worries either for Remco Evenepoel, already satisfied to find himself in the fight for the podium. “It’s a very good start to the Tour de France for us. The race is still long, you never know if Tadej has a day off… We have to look at our work, our team and feel our legs. We’re going to fight until Nice, that’s for sure,” stressed the Belgian from Soudal-Quick Step, aware that the gap opened up by Pogacar is not irremediable and that the final finish in Nice, on July 21, is still a long way off.
With two next stages in theory promised to the sprinters, the next big meeting for the big guns is set for Friday. With a short time trial announced to be explosive in the majestic setting of the Route des Grands Crus de Bourgogne.
Rodolphe Ryo, in Valloire (Savoie)
