Ineos Grenadiers have four riders in the top ten at the Tour de France but admit they’re baffled by the strength of Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar, as the race heads to La Planche des Belles Filles for Friday’s first mountain top finish.
Adam Yates is fourth overall, 39 seconds down on Pogačar, Tom Pidcock is fifth at 40 seconds, Geraint Thomas is sixth at 46 seconds and Dani Martinez is eighth at 1:00.
They all moved up the general classification after the hilly roads to Longwy shook out the peloton, with Pidcock finishing fourth, not fast behind stage winner Pogačar.
Van Aert lost the yellow jersey after going on the attack virtually all stage but left his mark on the day and on his rivals. The Belgian was hoping to go away in a big group and so attacked time and time again. He eventually got away with Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) and Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) and even tried to stay away alone.
He was eventually caught and distanced but left the peloton and the Ineos Grenadiers riders in awe.
“It was incredible what he was trying to do,” Thomas said after his usual warm-down at the team bus beyond the finish line.
“It was insane, the power he had and what he was doing, he was just splitting the group on his own on the front. Too much power, I don’t know what else to say. That was impressive. Pogačar and Wout van Aert are just a level above everyone at the minute, but you never know what’s around the corner.”
Pidcock’s opinion on van Aert was a little more blunt but perhaps laced with admiration, the Yorkshireman saying: “He’s playing with our balls, isn’t he? I don’t know what to say, really. He’s taking the piss, isn’t he?”
Yates was also sarcastic.
“He was just trying to win, he doesn’t win that many, does he?” Yates said. “We’re lucky he wasn’t there in the finale.”
Thomas has impressed so far in the Tour de France, despite riding the opening time trial with a gilet over his skinsuit and losing 18 seconds to Pogačar.
However, he lost a further five seconds on the intense, hilly finish to Longwy, losing contact with Neilson Powless, as the American fought to hang on the hope of taking the yellow jersey.
“It was a fast old day there. I thought it was on the limit, so it is what it is. You could obviously feel it at the end, but you just crack on it with,” Thomas explained.
“I don’t want to use excuses or anything. On that penultimate climb, I just tried to just let the gap go and…
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