Can Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel bounce back - or will Tadej Pogacar seal another Tour de France stage win?
Stage 12 of the Tour de France really set the race alight as defending champion Tadej Pogacar stamped on the pedals on the lower slopes of the infamous Hautacam climb and simply took flight.
The Slovenian went solo with 12km to go, teed up superbly by teammate Jhonatan Narvaez, and while initially Jonas Vingegaard was the only rider who could stick with him, the Dane was quickly distanced and began rapidly shedding time.
By the summit finish at Hautacam - the toughest climb of the race so far - Pogacar had once again emphasised his superiority and his rivals were left licking their wounds and taking stock of their losses.
Vingegaard finished 2’10” down, falling to 3’31” behind Pogacar in the overall standings, while Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic also suffered on the brutal slopes and in the punishing heat.
Florian Lipowitz demonstrated his pedigree as a climber, finishing just 13 second behind Vingegaard in third, as he, Oscar Onley and Kevin Vauquelin all made gains on Evenepoel in the best young rider classification.
But the story of the day was of course Pogacar earning his revenge on the Hautacam, the climb where he was put to the sword as Vingegaard stormed to his first Tour title in 2022.
“I almost already forgot (about the Hautacam stage in 2022) and was just looking forward to today, then all the people came to me saying all the time about this, ‘Is this revenge time?’ Then when we approached the bottom of the climb it was the reverse story of a few years ago,” he said.
Pogacar took to the start line with bandaging along his left arm after a crash late on stage 11, but did not appear remotely impeded by it - although there is every possibility he may suffer the continued aftereffects on stage 13, combined with his incredible efforts on stage 12.
“For sure you don't know how the body reacts after a crash, but it was not too bad a crash,” he said. “I feel my hip only if I do acrobatics, but here riding the bike it's not big flexing.”
Pogacar dedicated his stage win to Samuele Privitera, the 19-year-old Italian development rider who died after a crash at the Giro della Valle d'Aosta on Wednesday.
“This stage can go for Samuele, to all his family,” he said. “It was really sad, it was the first thing I read in the morning, and I was thinking in the last kilometre about him and how tough this sport can be, and how much pain it can cause.”
While stage 12 was a long and brutal day in the saddle, stage 13 is the shortest stage of this year’s race, a 10.9km time trial from Loudenvielle to Peyragudes. The race stays in the Pyrenees for yet more climbing, as while the stage is short, it may prove even tougher than yesterday’s effort.
After a rolling first three kilometres the road suddenly and sharply kicks uphill, with the 8km climb to the finish line at the altiport in Peyragudes averaging 7.9% and kicking up to 16% on its toughest upper slopes.
The final kilometre ramps up to the line at an average of 13%, making this a beast of a day that only gets more intense the further it goes on.
Route map and profile
Start time
The first rider down the ramp on stage 13 will set off at 1.10pm local time (12.10pm BST) and the stage is expected to finish at 5.30pm local time (4.30pm BST).
Prediction
Could Tadej Pogacar do the double? The Slovenian has already won three stages of this year’s Tour, up to 20 career stages (watch out, Mark Cavendish) and looks in supreme form, even with that crash on stage 11. There’s every possibility that it may hamper him more today than it did yesterday, but he still looks a cut above Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, who would otherwise be among the favourites for today.
Evenepoel is of course the world and Olympic time-trial champion but the Belgian prefers a flatter, more specialist-friendly course and any aero benefits from his position on the bike will be rendered null by the climbing on the menu today. Vingegaard has serious time to make up on his rival but has had two bad days at this year’s Tour, one in the previous time trial and one yesterday, so combining the Pyrenean climbs with a race against the clock doesn’t seem likely to suit the Dane today.
None of the peloton’s other time-trial specialists, like Edoardo Affini, can climb as well as Pogacar; French national TT champion Bruno Armirail had a phenomenal day out yesterday but is not a pure climber and may well pay for those efforts. For all of those reasons, we are once again going with Tadej Pogacar.
Category: General Sports
