Crazy Racing
It is astounding to see how hard the racers need to go to take the Yellow Jersey from Tadej Pogačar. Mathieu van der Poel turned himself inside and out over the first 10-days to eke out a four-second lead, which, after massive efforts and the loss of the jersey, he took back for one tiny second before surrendering it again. Ben Healy’s equally wild efforts earned him the special tunic, gaining a ‘whopping’ .29” over the Slovenian after putting his EF team to the sword for the entirety of that brutal Puy region Stage 10. Throughout all of this, Pogačar has been sitting calm, always in command, always threatening the big blow, one which should come today on the ride to Hautacam.
The last two stages, in Puy and the fantastically successful one yesterday around Toulouse, have been marvels for the sport. The EF Education – Easy Post squad went out on a mission to get Healy the Yellow Jersey on Stage 10, fighting for it every inch of the way to the line. Especially riveting was the pursuit match between EF’s big man Harry Sweeny at the front of the breakaway that was carrying Healy to the jersey, and the even bigger Nils Politt pounding on the front of the bunch, minutes back, for UAE. The two men, at the head of their respective groups, went at it for kilometers on end, both racing their guts out to the base of the final climb. Sweeny was the winner on that one, holding and even extending the gap between Healy and the Yellow Jersey Pogačar; Ben Healy owes, in large part, his hard-won jersey to the efforts of his Aussie teammate.
Sneaky Simon Yate appeared out seemingly nowhere to take the stage after having been given an armchair ride in the breakaway to the final climbs. Yates is known to be a shy, reticent character, one that needs convincing of his winning abilities. Maybe that shyness is why he never seems to be noticed in the races until it’s too late, as in the recent Giro where, although sitting in third, he had never been part of the conversation until that brilliant, Giro winning attack. Healy, after reeling a bit from Yate’s final move rallied enough to conquer Yellow on the day in a sorely needed triumph for his EF Education – Easy Post team.
The French are calling it the ‘punkification’ of the Tour. Somehow Healy’s now a punk rocker for them, there is a bit of Iggy Pop in his shaking and shimmering riding style, all forward aggression with the entire body engaged, but it’s his ‘breakdown the house’ attitude that is most striking. That attitude seemed to have infected the entire peloton on the Toulouse stage, where it became clear that the Tour de France peloton had collectively lost their minds, covering the 98-miles in 3:15…It is being called one of the most chaotic stages ever, certainly of recent memory, and proved the proverbial baptism by fire for the EF Education team in their first defense of the Yellow Jersey.
You’ll not see nothing like the Mighty Quinn. Simmons of course, the American Champion has been flying the flag with pride this Tour, bedecked in the Stars and Stripes, the Coloradoan has been a constant presence on the front for his team, and in the breakaways when he can sneak in a moment for his own interests. I just wish he raced better. He is so strong, looks so perfect on his bike, can move through the peloton with the best of them, yet it’s always the wrong move.
He was in the break in the Toulouse stage, going head-to-head with Van Aert, Van der Poel and De Lie (finally showing his great promise), in position for a win, when he attacked on his own instead of waiting for the inevitable move from Van der Poel. Simmons was, of course, caught and spit out the back in a stage that he could have won. All that crazy racing came down to a most dramatic finish, with Van der Poel closing on the two in front (Simmons would have been useful there…) but coming up just short allowing Norwegian Jonas Abrahamsen to edge out the Swiss Champion Mauro Schmid in a photo finish. What is most striking about this Tour is the incredible intensity engaged for every intermediate sprint, every climb, every finish. And we’re only halfway through with the ‘hard’ just beginning.