Le Tour Dispatch: Stage 12

Every day when I finally sit down to write these recaps, I’m not remembering every attack in the breakaway formation, or trying to recall in detail every manoeuvre in the final bunch sprint. Instead, I'm looking for the main stories of the day, the talking points, the stand-out moments that make up the narrative of a stage. If you want to read a blow-by-blow account of the action as it happened from kilometre zero, to the finish line, well – you’ve probably realised by now that I’m not the right pro cycling media outlet for you.

What is sport if it’s not about the stories that unfold, from the smallest incidents that have us smiling to the grand, sweeping narrative arcs that begin as the flag drops for the first time and end on the podium in Paris (Nice). Sometimes there’s not a lot to tell, other days, there’s too much to fit in one article, maybe even in the chapter of a book. Sometimes, you have to change the story you’re writing before you reach the ending, and sometimes, you have to revise it even as it’s unfolding.

Today was a bit like that. As a storyteller, as the stage drew closer to its conclusion, I was cooking up an analogy about Goldilocks – this being the kind of sprint stage that was ‘just right.’ It wasn’t a total bore-fest (though as Anna McEwen pointed out in her article on stage 10, even those have their place); there was a sense of urgency, and of action, about the peloton – in short, it felt like a RACE. I don’t necessarily begrudge the guys those days where they just roll along having a chat but let’s face it, we all have other places to be, so for them to mean business today was fun, and lent a sense of possibility to the day.

The scenery was GORGEOUS. Not jaw-dropping, Dolomite-style breath-taking, just impossibly pretty, ‘I would like to go on holiday or possibly even retire here’, that sort of thing. The break had hope, after a day of having their hopes dashed, and there was plenty of attacking fun in the early stages.

Yet there was also a pervasive sense of inevitability, that it simply couldn’t all just proceed merrily without incident. Danger lurked on two fronts, and was foreshadowed with the withdrawal of Michael Mørkøv before the race, with covid –  a sad end to his final Tour. Riders with masks on, prior to the stage, and three riders out the previous day with illness. Fabio Jakobsen was the first faller of the day, immediately out the back, drifting away and eventually, stepping off the bike, a forlorn wave to camera, before he climbed into the team car. A sense he knew it was coming. A while later, Pello Bilbao met with the same fate, his long pause at the car door like a question mark hanging over whether he could bring himself to push any longer, clearly out of shape and sick like his teammate Fred Wright.

The foreshadowing continued as a crash in the bunch involving yellow jersey stymied the ongoing battle for the break, and as Pogi fiddled with his bike the slender ten-second advantage the lead quartet had nursed ballooned out and any other hopefuls suddenly found themselves out of luck. (So, as it turned out, were the leaders, who may have had a better chance if their number had been greater).

And so the day settled into its rhythm and some of us (OK me) got lost in the beautiful scenery as the race headed towards the Dordogne, remembering why we love transition stages at the Tour, as we plan and plot future holidays, gaze at stunning rock formations and imposing chateaus, and imagine ourselves sitting outside a little café in a local village, eating bread and cheese and drinking wine.

The pace brisk yet the mood relaxed, that ‘just right’ sense that everything was as it should be and we could enjoy the race and still get on with our day later.  

Sometimes though, when things seem too good to be true, the universe has a way of reminding you not to get too comfortable. The break were caught, the tension ramped up and everything was OK for a while, until it wasn’t. Those insidious central reservations, too light in colour and too low in profile to be visible to anyone not immediately at the front of the bunch, caused an accident that brought down a number of riders, and while so far – speaking from our privileged position after the fact – everyone seems to have come through without major damage, even Lotto-Dstny’s Jarrad Drizners, who appeared to be worst affected at the time, it was a nasty hiccup in proceedings.

While the damage to bodies may have been superficial, the irrevocable impact of the crash on the hopes of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and their ill-fated leader Primož Roglič was not only visible on the GC standings at the end of the day, but in the faces of the entire team as they shepherded him across the line, battered and bruised in both body and spirit. They will go again tomorrow, perhaps, but for the man who has had his hopes dashed at Le Tour too many times to count, it’s yet another cruel blow, and a nasty twist in the never-ending story of Roglič’s mishaps at the Tour.

So to the sprint, and while it was amazing for fans of the French sprinter to see Arnaud Démare finally back at his best and actually in contention, it was less good to see him follow in the footsteps of Jasper Philipsen, deviating ahead of Wout van Aert, who once again found himself pressed towards the barriers. The sheer rage of the déjà vu was enough for the Belgian to find his way around the other side to just pip Démare on the line, only to find himself finishing in his heart-rendingly consistent spot of second. Because who was calmly proceeding past all the chaos like a majestic green ninja? Biniam Girmay, that’s who.

Démare would later be relegated, along with Mark Cavendish, and the jury appear to at least be applying some consistency this year though some fans of the Manx missile questioned the decision. Supporting a sprinter is tough. You take the rough with the smooth, the photo finishes with the nowhere-nears, and the glorious victories with the deserved relegations. For all, the cycling adage holds true, quite literally for the sprinters: we go again tomorrow.

As for Biniam, what can you say? There’s always one sprinter at a Grand Tour who hits the sweet spot, and he’s won the jackpot this time around, inspired by the green jersey on his shoulders; his timing, positioning, and final push to the line have been on point throughout this Tour. His team back him, the self-belief is there and the dream continues for the rider who will surely take home the jersey that has come to look like it belongs on him. A hat-trick for the man who’s inspiring a nation, and a generation of young riders around the world. Long may the fairy-tale continue – because goodness knows we needed one happy ending today.

Stage 13: Agen - Pau

About tomorrow...

1-1-1 Things of the Tour de France

by Mathieu Fraisse

one food, one fact and one local rider, for every place on edition 111 of Le Tour

1 food: Béarnaise sauce

After the mustard in Dijon, here's another delicious sauce to sublimate your dish. 

This sauce is made of butter, egg yolk, white-wine vinegar, and herbs. Béarnaise gets its special taste from shallot, black pepper, and tarragon.

It's usually a traditional sauce for steak but you can eat it without meat, it's delicious with potatoes for example.

1 rider: Matthieu Ladagnous

A stage in Pau is the perfect occasion to talk about teammates. In the shadows of their leaders but their team success couldn't happen without them.

One of the greatest French teammates in recent history is Matthieu Ladagnous. Lieutenant of Thibaut Pinot and road captain for FDJ for 17 years. 

He never won a big race, he never won a Grand Tour stage but Matthieu is a legend because of everything he brought to the FDJ team: support, leadership and good vibes.

So this one is for all the teammates out here grinding for their leaders, your work is recognised and your work is great. Thank you!

1 fact: A goat behind the wheel

No Tadej Pogačar wasn't seen driving around Pau but a real goat was caught on camera on the driver's seat in Pau’s streets.

Well, rest assured the goat wasn't actually driving. She was patiently waiting on the driver's seat for her owners to come back 😁

The bystander who took the picture was quite surprised by this sight but in the neighbourhood the goat is very well-known for her “driving” abilities. 

A neighbour told the press that the goat is a pet and her owners take her everywhere, like a dog!

Fellow Thibaut Pinot fans? Probably 🐐 Read the story here. 

STAGE PREVIEW

As we move inexorably towards the Pyrenees, tomorrow we visit a town well known to the Tour - it's Pau. Another day marked as flat, another day with 2000m plus of altitude gain (well, it's listed as 2000 but once you include the neutralised zone it's bound to be more). With two late categorised climbs to invite attacks, it's once again not absolutely certain to be a sprint day, though it still looks highly likely.

But hold on there just one second - may I interest you in some hope, for that breakaway versus peloton battle that I suggested might happen today (er, sorry about that). The race has begun its wearing down process. Riders are heading home, injured, sick, outside of the time limit. Goals are changing, as less and less riders are capable of influencing the GC. Key sprint teams are diminished - Alpecin-Deceuninck and Astana Qazaqstan among them.

As the race goes deeper, more and more teams will look to find other ways to win. This is where the breakaway comes into its own. So yes, while on paper a sprint looks the likeliest outcome, retain a little hope in your hearts that perhaps, we might get an exciting battle to the line. Pau has witnessed sprint victories and breakaway wins, so you just never know...

WBR team Predictions:

Sam: Toms Skujiņš from the break

Peter: Alpecin have lost two riders to the time cut today so they don’t have chasers. I think it’s time for 4 rouleurs to get away and stay away with spins wheel Paul Lapeira to win.

Anna: Wout to win

Katy: Arnaud de Lie, but not from a bunch sprint. Victor Campanaerts will launch on one of the late climbs and take Arnaud along for the ride with a few others.

Before you go...

Some sights from the road side today...

Until tomorrow, au revoir!