He was right Ill, across the board. The time trial would have been fought between Van Aert and Pogacar, while Kung would not have made it because he had also seemed tired in the previous days.you. But at a certain point Pogacar pulled in his oars and did a conservative time trial and Wout Van Aert had the green light, putting 21 seconds ahead of a strong Asgreen, the man from Flanders, and 32 to the partner vingegaard already third in the first time trial.
Asgreen had the best time for a long time, but he expected Van Aert to return Su Kung was right, Malori: the Swiss spent too much in the Tour and finished fourth
Asgreen had the best time for a long time, but he expected Van Aert to return Su Kung was right, Malori: the Swiss spent too much in the Tour and finished fourth
Malori 10 with honors
For the Jumbo Visma on the way to Tokyo, the time trial promises to be almost a social raceWith Van Aert, Roglic, and Dumoulin. Vingegaard was not selected: Asgreen himself took the only place available for Denmark who did better than him today.
«Winning a time trial at the Tour de France – says Van Aert – has always been one of the biggest goals of my career. The last two days I've been focusing on this race (Malori had seen correctly, ed.) I'm very happy I succeeded. Compared to the first time trial, this one was smoother and faster.. With my weight, it was more to my advantage than the first one, which was harder."
Teamwork
Even the sports director Merijn Zeeman talks about a perfect time trial: «We invested time and effort. Mathieu Heijboer (former pro and coach of Team Jumbo Visma, ed.) worked on materials, posture, position and wind tunnel testing. All that work came together in this great performance.Wout clearly rode much better than in the first time trial. He's really grown and improved in this Tour. I expected it. We knew he was one of the favorites today and that he wouldn't settle for anything less than victory. The fact that Vingegaard finished third makes this a dream day.».
Asgreen towards Tokyo
Kasper Asgreen remained in the hot seat for an hour and forty minutes. It is true that Runners know when there's someone around who's faster, but after a while you get used to the idea that you could have won. That's why the Dane's look when Van Aert overtook him was a mixture of disappointment and awareness at the same time.
"There were a lot of strong riders at the start today," he admits, "so I knew it would be tough. That's why Getting on the podium is a result that satisfies me, especially because it comes after three long and hard weeks and a few days before the OlympicsThe first few kilometers were on rough and bumpy asphalt, which made it difficult to find a rhythm, so my main focus was on the two long straights. Finishing second is a good result, my first podium at the Tour this year».
Adrenaline rush
Pogacar did his part. Why would I risk my neck on those curves, the yellow jersey must have thought, if I had almost six minutes to defend? The only criticism for a submissive race is having missed the opportunity to compete with rivals in view of the Olympics, but In any case, it would have been a comparison distorted by the efforts of the Tour.
"I'm super happy it's over," he admits, revealing what he (rightly) thought. "It was a very fast time trial. There was a lot of support along the way, I enjoyed every kilometer, even though it was very hot and I suffered a bit. I went all out, but It was different from the first time trial, where there was more adrenaline. I was well prepared anyway and I still gave a good performance."
«I won the Tour again, but I can't compare both victories, say which one is more beautifulLast year, everything was decided in the final time trial, and the emotions were much stronger. This time, I took the yellow jersey much earlier. It was completely different. I will think in the future about how important this victory is.ia. For now, I'm just very happy."
Tomorrow for Sonny
The closing credit goes to the day's winner, who was exhausted after the finish, as befits someone who races a time trial at full speed and gives it their all, and to the Italian champion, who fought like a lion, going incredibly fast, but risks leaving with nothing but a bitter taste in his mouth.
"It was a perfect day," Van Aert says. "After the finish, I was burning. It was stressful watching the others cross the finish line. But luckily, I relaxed a bit when I saw that the split times for the top-seeded riders were quite high. It was a very tough Tour de France for my team.I'm very proud of what we've achieved, with three stage wins and Jonas (Vingegaard, ed.) finishing second in the final classification."
Tomorrow is the final parade and last sprint on the Champs-Élysées. No offense to Cavendish: we would have been rooting for him, but given the greatness of Merckx and especially given Colbrelli's look at the finish line in Saint Gaudens, tomorrow we'll be cheering for the Italian flag. Because it's right that he wins, and because it's right that he too sprints across the finish line with a finger over his mouth. The fact that he's still not receiving any messages could confirm that his phone hasn't been returned yet. For a father who works thousands of miles from home, this is a source of stress and anger.The same anger that we hope tomorrow will unleash on the pedals on the magical cobblestones of Paris. Go Sonny!
