It was a different Tour than we were used to. Unbelievably combative and had several huge personalities – the Danish winner Jonas Vingegaard, the crown prince of Slovenia Tadej Pogačar and the man for everything, the modern-day Eddy Merckx – the Belgian Wout van Aert. She drove incredibly fast and was dominated by a single stable. No longer the INEOS Grenadiers, but the Dutch team Jumbo-Visma. Although he gradually lost one domestic player after another, he still coped in the end and completely overshadowed the others. He collected all the jerseys except for the white one for the best young rider (Pogačar got it).
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2) Wout van Aert, a monster from another planet
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For a long time, it was all about a giant battle between the two favorites for the overall standings. But this year’s Tour has one more and perhaps the biggest winner. He is the phenomenal 27-year-old Belgian Wout van Aert. He was the most prominent personality of the peloton. At the Tour, this “Green Monster” showed that he can do it all – time trials, sprints, big hills, he practically has no weakness. He triumphantly won the points jersey, 3 stages, was second in the next 4 stages and overall received an award for combativeness. And that’s not all. He also presented himself as an excellent passenger, a super-domestic who can shuffle the cards for his leader. As if he had no limit. When he wanted to, he attacked and everyone else had to tremble. On Hautacam, he was the one who finally steamrolled Pogačar. It was not an exaggeration of the stage that he did not shine in it for a while or at least he did not hold office.
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Everyone wonders what will happen when they lose 5 kg. Will he be the biggest rider in the overall standings?
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3) Vingegaard x Pogačar battle
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The biggest battle for first place on the Tour in recent years. First, the main favorite and defending champion Pogačar led by a few tens of seconds. However, Vingegaard was a worthy opponent and was always on his heels. Then the Slovene chose a weaker moment in the very difficult 11th stage on the Col du Granon Serre Chevalier and suddenly he was 2.5 minutes behind the Dane. The battle continued in the next stages in the Alps and in the Pyrenees, but Pogačar was no longer able to break Vingegaard. Although he still won narrowly in the exit to Peyragudes, he lost again in the following 18th stage to the legendary Pyrenean Hautacam. Nothing helped him at all, while they competed with each other in every mountain stage. The Slovenian also lost to the Dane in the final time trial. Although he already won 3 stages at the Tour for the third time in a row, this time it was “only” enough for second place.
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So far, Vingegaard, second forever, who only 5 years ago worked part-time in a fish warehouse in Denmark, has the first big victory of his career and the biggest one. In addition, two victories in key mountain stages.
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But one more thing is important. This was not a duel between two irreconcilable testosterone rivals. It was a clash of a new generation of young gentleman riders. Example? When Pogačar fell on the descent from the Col de Spandelles in the stage to Hautacam, the Dane waited for him, the Slovenian thanked him, they held hands for a second and then continued together.
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Covid struck when no one expected it and struck unprecedentedly. It already started at the preparatory race Around Switzerland, where only half of the riders finished. It wasn’t such a disaster here, but every other day one of the competitors had to retire. Favorites, stage winners, stars of the race, including the excellent Dane Magnus Cort at the start. Also Chris Froome, who returned this year as a full-fledged competitive rider – finished 3rd in the royal stage on Alpe d’Huez and, when he had to retire due to illness, held 26th place overall. Or Enrico Mase, who was 11th overall after Hautacam.
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While the stables carried out intensive and regular testing, the main organizer ASO seemed to fear that covid could spoil his show. According to many witnesses, he tested laxly and inconsistently. In the end, the Tour left, but at times it did not look good at all.
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The heat was great, one of the biggest in history. Was it a record? Difficult. But some competitors couldn’t handle it. For example, Michael Morkov, the yard starter of the Quick Step Alpha Vinyl team, paid for it. Maybe even the favorite Pogačar in the key stage on the Col du Granon Serre Chevalier. But other riders didn’t complain and said it belonged to the Tour. Still, many were surprised that the organizers did not take any major measures against the heat. They didn’t move the starts, they didn’t shorten some stages, they just increased the limit for completing some stages. They were evidently defending the business interests of the “Old Lady”. A large column of sponsors passes through each stage, shortening it means depriving the sponsors of the presentation. The postponement of the start does not suit the sponsors either, because prime time is at stake.
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6) Start in Copenhagen and great Danes
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The Tour visited Denmark and the capital Copenhagen for the first time. She has never driven further north in history. The atmosphere, the beautiful landscape, the fans and the Danish riders themselves showed that it was a “trip” completely justified and deserved. Spectators in this land of cycling and cyclists came in hundreds of thousands and were extremely disciplined. The Danish competitors then went wild with activity and it was far from just symbolic. They won the yellow jersey in the overall ranking, the dotted jersey of the best climber, 4 stage victories and other places on the podium. They became the Tour’s next cycling powerhouse.
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7) Return of Jakobsen and Groenewegen
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The two Dutchmen prepared an extraordinary story at the very beginning of the Tour. Both are the actors of the famous and almost tragic collision at the finish stage of the Tour of Poland in 2020. Dylan Groenewegen crashed Fabio Jakobsen in front of the finish line there and he almost lost his life. Jakobsen fought for his life, then for his health and finally for a return to the professional peloton. Groenewegen was suspended for 9 months, quit his team and received threatening letters from fans. But both came back in top form. First, in the second stage, Jakobsen won at the finish. A day later Groenewegen.
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8) Super universal Tom Pidcock
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This still 22-year-old competitor knocked firmly on the door. He showed how good and versatile a cyclist he already is. Olympic Mountain Bike Champion from Tokyo 2021, Cyclocross World Champion 2022, winner of the 2021 Brabant Arrow classic at the Tour de France won the royal stage to Alpe d´Huez and rode in the top ten overall for a long time. And he’s a showman. At the finish line of the hot stage, he didn’t bother with anything and went to the city fountain to cool off. Will he succeed Wout van Aert?
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9) What if Mark Cavendish was there?
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We’ll never know. The man who won 4 stages last year was not here (the Quick Step Alpha Vinyl team did not include him in the line-up) and there was a controversy. Can Fabio Jakobsen replace him? Right from the start it looked like it could. But then the question marks started to grow. The track also caused it. As it turned out during the race, she had few typically sprinting stages. In addition, Wout van Aert stole places from the sprinters wherever he could.
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10) And much more
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Of course, there were more interesting moments. For example, the introduction of the indomitable Briton Chris Froome, four-time winner of the Tour. In the 12th royal stage, he recovered for the first time from a serious injury to a great performance and finished 3rd. He showed that he can go even higher.
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Or the unexpected rebirth of Colombian Nair Quintana. The surprising first place of the Belgian Yves Lampaert in the opening time trial. Australian Michael Matthews’ victory after many years of second and fourth places. The triumph of Frenchman Chris Laporte in one of the last stages. It saved France, otherwise they would not have had a single stage win. By the way, this win was actually arranged by his teammate van Aert.
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It was a very good Tour. Exciting.
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