Easy stage today towards Bordeaux at the edge of the surplace and Van Aert smiled at the start and admitted that he will finally be able to restWhat the Belgian did yesterday has exhausted the supply of adjectives. Not even the fact that Pogacar alone crucified him in the end. the battleship Jumbo-Visma manages to downplay the enormity of his work. The only indication of the grandeur of the gesture is in the staggering moment he stopped pedaling, having really scraped the bottom.
From zero to 140
Van Aert left at kilometer zero and He remained in front until 5 kilometers from the finish of a stage that measured 144,9. Next to him was Nathan Van Hooydonck, who immediately understood the extent of that acceleration.
«We had planned to have someone on the run – he says – and I knew Wout would start in the wake of the first carsIn the first kilometer we saw him accelerate, and if you can't catch his wheel, you can't see him anymore. The breakaway was instantaneous. Some say that Wout is not as strong as last year, but that's not true.He left because he had already won the prize for fighting spirit two days earlier. Wout is a classy guy and a super good rider, we have to rub our hands together for having a rider like that."
Shaded plane
It's hard to say if the tensions of the last few days Whether they've all been forgotten or whether a diplomatic solution has been found. The fact is that after yesterday's hard work, even Vingegaard struggled to remain completely indifferent: the feeling is that the growth of the "enemy" Pogacar has compacted the Jumbo-Visma front.
"Wout was once again super strong," said the yellow jersey, "but it wasn't just him. The whole team was fantastic. Everyone ran great, but Wout was truly exceptional.».
It's hard to say less to a champion who escorted him to within 5 kilometers of the finish line, on the day when Vingegaard himself was less fantastic than the day before.
«The intention – he explained – was to drop Pogacar on the Tourmalet and then take advantage of Wout's help after the summit to gain further ground, but it didn't worko. Tadej managed to pass the Tourmalet well and on the final climb towards Cauterets he was the strongest. He deserved to win».
The evening analysis of the data highlighted that it was precisely on the Tourmalet, Vingegaard broke the climbing record, climbing in 45'11", almost two minutes better than the record set by David Gaudu in 2021He went strong, Pogacar was no less.
Still super Kuss
The return of compliments 24 hours after those received by Pogacar could also sound like a formal act, but it is a fact that after the arrival those two hugged each other, in a gesture of mutual recognition that did not escape even the companions.
«We wanted to try to discover Pogacar – he said an immense Sepp Kuss - but Maybe Jonas still had the tough stage on Wednesday in his legs, when he had to pedal for a very long time at a very high pace."
«I'm happy to be in yellow again – Vingegaard concluded – it would have been better to have a two-minute lead, but even 25 seconds is not bad. I wasn't at all surprised that Tadej respondedThis Tour has already been very tough, and we're still in the first week. I think it can remain exciting until Paris."
