COURCHEVEL (France) – For better or for worse, they were the protagonists of the day: we are talking about the boys of the Red Bull-Bora. For better because they tried, for worse because the plans probably didn't go as expected. The German team had plenty to look forward to: the podium, the white jersey, the stage (opening photo ASO / Billy Ceusters).
And in fact today on the Glandon they were among the first to light the fuse with Primois Roglic, it's a pity that their tactics clashed with the "infamous plan" of the Visma-Lease a Bike, that plan they have been boasting about since the eve of Tour de France...
But let's get back to us and Red Bull. Let's try to make a tactical analysis of the day in three steps: the team, the action of Florian Lipowitz and that of Roglic.
The team and the race
As mentioned, there was quite a lot going on, and fortunately, we dare say. After all, the squadron of Ralph Denk He's achieved very little so far: a second place yesterday with Jordi Meeus. True, a podium finish and a possible white jersey are still in the cards. But that's relatively little for a battleship like this.
And so Primoz Roglic is in the breakaway. For the stage and to get ahead. In this way he would have exposed, as it then happened, also Oscar Onlyy and the other closest pursuers in the general classification. This will keep Lipowitz covered.
And all in all the plan devised by the sporting director Enrico Gasparotto He was doing very well. As mentioned, Visma on the Col de la Madeleine was the one who spoiled his luck. There, Jorgenson and Vingegaard's acceleration destroyed Roglic's lead and put Lipowitz in difficulty. He was then forced to recover and spent the rest of his time preparing for the final climb.
Recovery which, once Jorgenson stopped, turned into a counterattack for Lipowitz. In short, the team had moved well up until then.
Lipowitz's tenacity
On the Madeleine, Lipowitz's response to Vingegaard's attacks cost him dearly. For over 45 minutes, the white jersey fought alone to try to get back. When he succeeded, he launched a counterattack.
This move wasn't easy to understand and might have seemed risky, to say the least. But then, analyzing the climbing times, it perhaps turned out to be the right move to save both the goat and the cabbage, namely the podium and the white jersey. In fact, Florian took advantage and did everything, absolutely everything, of the Col de la Loze at a leisurely pace, as if it were a time trial.
Lipowitz was constantly losing ground, from the first to the last meter of the Loze. It was therefore only right to take advantage of those 2 minutes and 20 seconds at the top of the final hill. Especially since Oscar Onley, somewhat surprisingly, pulled off a monstrous performance. Let's not forget that he had fallen behind on the Madeleine. He had ended up in the group with Vauquelin and Johannessen, and when Lipowitz attacked, the Englishman was still behind. Now the athlete from Pic Nic-PostNL he is only 22” away from the podium and the white jersey.
"Why did I attack? I tried to push myself further," Lipowitz told a German radio station, "but in the last ten kilometers I realized that my energy was running out. From then on, it was pure torture. Especially the last two kilometers: they were hell. I honestly didn't think Onley and Johannessen would catch up with our group, given how far behind they were. They were really strong, so I take my hat off to them. Roglic also went strong. We'll have to make a plan for tomorrow.».
Roglic's experience
Certainly Roglic's approach to this Tour de France has not been the best. He retired from the Tour of Italy with more knocks than stages completed... and he already had two weeks of racing under his belt. Then came the various ailments when he was at altitude in Tignes. And yet there he is: fifth overall. He did very well in the two time trials and today, at one point, he was even on the virtual podium of the Grande Boucle.
On the descent from the Madeleine, despite having been in the breakaway, for a short while he also made himself available to Lipowitz. It happened on a couple of occasions, when Felix Gall he had tried to escape.
Perhaps even he hadn't expected Onley to be so strong in the finale. Roglic paid the price in the final three kilometers of the Col de la Loze, closing in on Onley by almost 50 seconds. However... There's a but that makes the glass half full for Roglic and Red Bull-BORA. This morning, starting from Vif, the Slovenian was 2:39 away from the podium; this evening, it was 1:48.
And yes, the two kids in front of him, one of whom is his teammate Lipowitz, could pay for today's efforts added to those of tomorrow, with another 4.500 meters of altitude difference. Roglic is a player who comes out over time.
In short, the challenge for the podium and the white jersey is wide open and extremely intricate. We imagine that sports director Enrico Gasparotto will have more than a few thoughts on his mind tonight about defending the podium and the white jersey. Or attacking...
