Tour de France | Three things that stood out: Pogacar swallows jumbo bait – Geschke shines on the giant Galibier

They fought for seconds and points with open eyes – only a few had expected that the gaps between the favorites for overall victory were even minutes. Especially not that it was the previous dominator Pogacar who conceded such a distance instead of distributing it as usual.

Three things that stood out:

1.) Jumbo tactics from the textbook work perfectly

“I can hardly find words,” admitted Eurosport reporter Bernhard Eisel at the finish of the 11th stage at the Col du Granon, “that was for the history books today: Jumbo had a plan and it was carried out perfectly”. At full strength, the Dutch team grabbed the yellow jersey and were rewarded more than they could have expected.

Wout van Aert went on the offensive right from the start and sprinter Christoph Laporte was placed in the group of the day alongside the super all-rounder. Both were able to take on important speed work later in the race and ensure a numerical advantage when the competition had long since thinned out. “They threw everything into the balance and showed themselves to be very loyal, especially to Primoz Roglic,” said Jens Voigt in praise of the 32-year-old, who sacrificed his own chances for the tour podium.

Because in the second step, Jumbo played the Joker Roglic and started the game of alternating attacks with him in the flatter part of the Galibier. Vingegaard and the Slovenian attacked alternately, putting pressure on Pogacar. He reacted and didn’t want to let his compatriot, who was almost three minutes behind him in the standings, go. A big mistake, as analyzed by Eurosport expert Robbie McEwen: “Roglic was the bait and Pogacar took the bait,” said the Australian.

The wearer of the maillot jaune had to take turns closing the gaps to the jumbo attackers, one of whom could meanwhile continue to lurk in Pogacar’s slipstream in these less steep passages. So it was possible to tire Pogacar – with the massive consequences in the final climb. Jumbo forced Pogacar to pursue the work “until he could no longer withstand it,” emphasized Lisa Brennauer in the Velo Club at Eurosport, and the racing team’s performance was “like a picture book.”

The extent to which other reasons such as heat, dehydration, empty energy stores or even a corona infection were responsible for Pogacar’s collapse in the last few kilometers of the final climb can only be speculated for the time being. But the fact is: The tour winner of the last two years, who seemed almost untouchable for ten days of racing in time trials on cobblestones, in climbs and on the home straight, “is also human”, as McEwen noted.

2.) Geschke shines on giant Galibier

Even if you don’t look at him because of the tiredness caused by the tough first half of the tour – he was “highly motivated”, promised Simon Geschke at the start in the Eurosport interview. No empty promises, full of vigour, he went in search of the big points for the mountain jersey and was rewarded.

Even if Pierre Latour and Warren Barguil snatched the victories in the mountain classifications from him, the veteran eagerly scored points on the first three summits of the day and especially second place on the tour giant Galibier increased his account massively. “He did everything right and implemented everything in an exemplary manner,” emphasized Voigt.

For Geschke it will remain a tough battle over the maillot à pois every day, but it is by no means a lost endeavor. He really has to fear the stars of the overall standings, depending on his form on the day and his luck in escaping his French rivals, he definitely has a chance of staying in the mountain jersey for a longer period of time. Now he can at least carry it up the famous curves to Alpe d’Huez – something that only Rolf Aldag could experience before him as a German driver (who in 2003 was only the representative for Richard Virenque, who also had the yellow jersey).

3.) Heptathlon for the Tour podium

Everything seemed pretty clear at the start in Albertville: Pogacar seemed on the way to the third Tour win in a row, Vingegaard should be the crown prince again like in 2021 and a driver from the Ineos duo Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates would complete the podium in Paris.

A little more than 150 kilometers later, the picture has changed massively.