The yellow dreams are quickly gone. They will be sepia colored now, like those photos from an old time. Guillaume Martin paid cash for his efforts of the day before, this Sunday, spending 3′54 ′ 'on Tadej Pogacar and especially demoting from second place in the general classification to ninth. "I did not expect to win the Tour anyway," breathes the climber from Cofidis, exhausted, his features drawn, in the finish area. The runaway Saturday was inevitable. Even his manager Cédric Vasseur had let the emphasis speak, without really believing it deep inside him. “Guillaume gave us a lot of emotions,” he trumpeted. He is second and France has been waiting for a winner for a very long time
(Editor's note: Bernard Hinault in 1985).
This changes his strategy which was to gain stages. Pogacar is above everyone else, but he is not immune to failure. "
The Slovenian controlled the race without worry, leaving the American Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Andorran resident, to perform his show far ahead.
When the peloton of the favorites accelerated in the Port d'Envalira, the top of the Tour (2 408 m), Guillaume Martin, him, lowered his head, and hung on.
The descent was fatal, while there remained 45 km and one difficulty, the Col de Beixalis.
“I was no longer lucid,” he says.
I was breaking up.
I got let go from the first switchbacks.
I stayed twenty seconds behind the Yellow Jersey group for a long time, but I didn't have enough energy.
I was quite simply.
It's frustrating of course but I can't be really disappointed because I gave it my all.
"
Rest comes at the right time
All these days spent attacking, aiming for stage success, have served him in his race for the general classification. Could it be otherwise? The Norman rider, offensive - "aggressive" as he says - found himself trapped by his temperament. On the Grande Boucle, you can't run two hares at the same time, and even for a philosopher, Cornelian dilemmas are never easy to resolve. “Considering the efforts of this Saturday, I knew I was going to suffer,” he explains. It was a very complicated day but if I take the weekend as a whole, it's pretty positive. "
What to expect now from the third week when the organism is seriously damaged? "I will look at the rankings calmly and I will take stock this Monday depending on my ability to recover," slips Guillaume Martin. The program is simple: three mountain stages, two of which are particularly difficult with altitude finishes in Saint-Lary-Soulan, Wednesday, and Luz-Ardiden, Thursday. Will the climber of Cofidis know how to lose enough time to gain his freedom of action? And will he have the strength? The rest day, this Monday, comes at the right time.