After Wednesday’s shock defeat of overwhelming favourite Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) on the Col de Granon by new race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), the Tour de France GC battle on Alpe d’Huez on Thursday could essentially have gone one of two ways.
Either Pogačar’s first, colossal setback in a Tour de France since he won the Tour in 2020 could have been followed by an even bigger time loss on Thursday, with the implicit recognition of Vingegaard as the most likely winner-in-waiting of the 2022 race. Or, on the Alpe d’Huez, Pogačar could start to fight back, start the process of showing that he was still in the game, and in the process all but guarantee he will make life difficult for Vingegaard for as much of the second part of the Tour as he possibly can.
As things turned out on the Alpe d’Huez, Pogačar went full on for option two.
For those expecting even more fireworks on July 14th, it has to be remembered that throughout stage 12, Jumbo-Visma did a faultless job of keeping up the pressure on Pogačar and his UAE teammates.
They turned the screws a little on the Galibier, the first of the three HC climbs, a lot more with Tiesj Benoot and Wout Van Aert towards the top of the Croix de Fer, and then even more with the rest of their team’s climbers and allrounders on the Alpe d’Huez itself: first Benoot and then Van Aert again, Kruijswijk and a hugely impressive (remember his dislocated shoulder) Primož Roglič, and finally, and above all, Sepp Kuss.
All of which managed to ensure Pogačar was isolated, and simultaneously hollowed out the GC battle considerably. Outsiders like Romain Bardet (DSM), previously second overall, Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), previously fifth, and Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) all found themselves in trouble. Long term, these setbacks all play into Vingegaard’s hands, as the GC is now looking considerably ‘cleaner’ than it was 24 hours ago, and that’ll mean Jumbo-Visma have fewer rivals to control in the days to come.
However, when it came to Pogačar, for all they put him to the test with a tried and tested process of wearing him down, the best Jumbo-Visma could manage on Alpe d’Huez regarding the UAE leader was a draw. Because whatever caused Pogačar to nearly lose the plot on Wednesday, the UAE Team Emirates’ collective assurances that Pogačar was far from finished after stage 11 proved 100 percent correct.
It’s worth noting the Slovenian’s two blistering attacks towards the summit of Alpe d’Huez…
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