Something has changed in a Tour that is anything but mathematical despite the fact that it is played by seconds, determined as the first two are to beat the record of Lemond and Fignon. Yellow is in 9 seconds with six stages to go. The American won in Paris in 1989 by 8. You cannot make predictions or probabilities in the duel of magicians and geniuses. Both Vingegaard and Pogacar hide their best tricks. Both seem to have an ace up their sleeve but they want to hide it for the big show, without notifying when it will be. But there is a new trend in the Alps. Neither in Morzine nor in Saint Gervais Mont-Blanc was the Slovenian able to storm the lead despite having it within range from the Grand Colombier. Vingegaard, who does not trust even the shadow of his rival, has not lost anything, not even the wheel, in the two alpine stages and continues in yellow.
It was a null fight, which the Dutchman Wout Poels, from Bahrain (36), took away, escaped, another veteran who shines past 33, while the bosses are studied. They float but do not sting. The defending champion and the contender signed draws with a good dose of theatrics. They go to the day of rest in a technical tie. Separated by 10 seconds, they meet for the time trial on Tuesday in which they will not be able to shield themselves in teams.
For the first time in a high finish, Pogacar did not take advantage of his starts. Always, at Cauterets, at the Puy de Dome and at the Grand Colombier, he made a profit. In the fourth and last arrival in a port of this Tour he was left without a prize. A man of habit, who attacks because he needs it and because it is in his own but to show off, he started 900 meters from the finish line after his UAE teammates stole the head of the group of favorites from Jumbo. But Vingegaard welded himself to his wheel, he did not give him even half a meter. He denied him even that moral victory of seeing him suffer. He responded on the first try and without hesitation. “I saw him so strong that I thought about not wasting more energy,” concedes Pogacar, a force administrator.
Very safe on the defensive, the Dane finds it difficult to go on the attack. Not even when Pogacar allowed Adam Yates to go ahead and they stayed hand in hand did he dare to try a timid demarcation. “I never thought about it. My idea was to always stay with him,” he admits. He only wanted to overtake him in the final stretch, as if to tell him here I am.
It was the third consecutive effort and they opted for a draw. The one who was not conservative was Carlos Rodríguez, who as soon as he detected Hindley’s difficulties went forward. The man from Granada has legs and a head, strength and reading of the career. And he knew how to see the moment to extend his advantage with the Australian from Bora. He won more than a minute to push him away.
Instead, the Andalusian, after his epic victory in Morzine, saw Adam Yates approaching, who had a free card from Pogacar to seek the individual benefit of the third port. Carlos, no Carlitos, defended himself like a lion. And what remains. Vingegaard and Pogacar know it. And Rodríguez knows it, who clings to the podium like a veteran at 22 years of age.
