The former ski jumper hit the bike hard.
Even if he did not fly to the station of Orcières Merlette as he did on his springboards in Slovenia, Primoz Roglic fell the mask.
As in the Tour de l'Ain or the Dauphiné, before his retirement on the morning of the last stage, the leader of Jumbo Visma showed that he and the others were there.
His final strong, a few meters ahead of the rest of the pack of favorites, leaves no room for doubt about his condition and potential.
The aftermath of his fall in the Dauphiné and the hesitation he gave a glimpse of when entering the Tour are no more than old memories, swept away like the little white sheep who tried in vain to cling to the summits of the Hautes-Alpes this Tuesday.
"I feel better and better"
"I feel better and better and the goal is the third week", retorts the Slovenian of 30 years, 3 rd in the general classification at 7 seconds of Julian Alaphilippe, in yellow an additional day, when one speaks to him of bluff.
With it, no risk of emphasis, runaway or overflow.
The champion offers a smooth face and agreed-upon words to those who question him.
Perhaps he fears the length of the ordeal, a stroke of fatigue or overwork, after all.
The winner of the Tour of Spain 2019 arrived in good form very early in this season truncated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
A little too early?
His opponents are on the lookout.
They will have to count on a drop in speed on his part and find the loophole within an impressive team which has a second cartridge in the person of Tom Dumoulin.
Above all, they will have to go on the attack.
On the gentle slopes of Orcières Merlette, Egan Bernal has remained anonymous and his teammates from Ineos Grenadiers too.
The Colombian, holder of the title, undoubtedly expects more accentuated reliefs but it does not appear aerial.
Pinot waits for the right moment
Like Thibaut Pinot, who takes his troubles patiently for the moment.
The Groupama FDJ rider has nevertheless arrived with the best and he feels a little better every day since his crash during the first stage on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice.
“It was important to be with the favorites,” he says.
I would have been told that… two days ago, I would have signed immediately.
It was very rolling.
We are on high averages and there is not much to do.
The Jumbo makes an infernal tempo.
After I fell, I had back problems and dragged my misery.
It is much better thanks to my physiotherapist and my osteoarthritis.
"
"If we go well this first week, it will then suit Thibaut well", slips his teammate Rudy Molard.
The goal?
Do not waste time on the ogre Roglic on Thursday at Mont Aigoual, and this weekend in the Pyrenees.