After a pretty crazy day on Tuesday on the roads of the Tour de France, the 11th stage this Wednesday did not start at the same pace. Faced with boredom in the peloton, the sports director of the UAE Emirates team had fun by sending a very mysterious instruction to his riders where it was a question of “tiger” and “crocodiles”.
This is an innovation for this 2023 edition of the Tour de France. Of the 22 teams involved, 17 accepted the distribution of the instructions given – through the earpieces – by the sports directors to the riders. On Wednesday, during the 11th stage between Clermont-Ferrand and Moulins, Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Emirates team had fun with this device.
“A joke”
At 153.3 kilometers from the finish, the moderator, who filters the messages to pass them with a few minutes delay, broadcast the instructions issued by Marco Marcato, sports director of the UAE Emirates training, to his riders. “Okay guys, now we go to plan C, everyone jumps on the tiger, when the crocodiles swim, you jump!” Said the former Italian professional cyclist.
The message amused followers and social networks, faced with this instruction which could have been interpreted as a hidden message. It was really just a “joke”, imagined in the team bus on the morning of the stage, as Marco Marcato indicated on the microphone of France Télévisions. “Everyone was surprised but it was just a joke, repeated Marcato. It was not about the tactics.”
Second in the general classification, 17 seconds behind the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar should have a rather quiet day this Wednesday. The next stages, on the other hand, promise to be more conducive to a battle for the general classification.
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