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Tour de France in the Pyrenees: The miracle of Lourdes is missing

2022-07-21T17:11:58.379Z


The last and most difficult Pyrenees stage of the Tour de France was a demonstration of power by the leader Jonas Vingegaard. He is the best in sport, but the Dane also showed his greatness as a person.


Enlarge image

The big winner of the day, Jonas Vingegaard

Photo:

THOMAS SAMSON / AFP

The gesture of the Tour:

Just imagine: The main competitors for the overall victory of the Tour de France are chasing down a breakneck descent.

One falls, the other deliberately slows down to wait for his rival to get back on his bike.

Then both shake hands at full speed and the duel continues man against man.

Inconceivably?

Exactly not.

Jonas Vingegaard's waiting for Tadej Pogačar, who slipped on the gravel, is the gesture of this Tour de France.

And maybe the entire sporting year.

Result of the stage:

who behaves so noble, also deserves the victory.

Jonas Vingegaard irresistibly pulled away on the final climb, with maximum support from teammate Wout van Aert, to impressively win the final mountain stage of the Tor from Lourdes to Hautacam.

The Tour de France is decided.

25-year-old Jonas Vingegaard will win it.

Click here for the detailed daily report.

Farewell to the mountains:

For the last time the entourage made its way through the high mountains, for the last time Pogačar had the opportunity to attack the overall leader.

And for the last time, tour veteran Simon Geschke had to try to save his dotted mountain jersey throughout the day.

Both projects failed.

An apparition:

The starting point of this extremely difficult Pyrenean stage was Lourdes, the world-famous pilgrimage site where the Blessed Mother is said to have appeared to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous.

Anyone who grew up in Catholic homes in the 1970s probably had a plastic bottle in the shape of a Madonna with holy water from Lourdes in their display case.

With a crown as a screw-off closure.

The desperate fight for the jersey:

Simon

Geschke could probably have used a miracle that day.

But it didn't happen: After almost three weeks of touring, his strength was exhausted.

Already at the first major mountain test of the day, the legendary Col d'Aubisque, he could no longer keep up.

It was basically his only chance to save the mountain jersey.

On the final climb, the favorites were too strong anyway.

But either way, it was an impressive Tour de France for the 36-year-old.

The highest category:

The Col d'Aubisque is a tour legend.

It was crossed by the professionals for the 72nd time, the first time in 1910. In 1951, the Dutchman Wim van Est, wearing the yellow jersey, fell into a 70 meter deep gorge while descending from Aubisque.

His teammates then tied 40 bicycle tubes together and used them to pull him up from the depths.

Van Est later used this for a commercial for a watch company and their supposedly indestructible products.

With the slogan: "Tik tak Pontiac - Zeventig meter lot ik diep, mijn hart stond stil, maar mijn Pontiac liep." You don't have to translate that.

The duel of the best:

Even before the penultimate climb to the Col de Spandelles, Pogačar tried again and again to outperform Vingegaard, but the Dane seemed to have a magnet in his wheel and remained the Slovenian's yellow shadow.

When it was another eleven kilometers uphill to the finish line after Hautacam, Pogačar was finally demoralized.

The noble-noble-noble helper Wout van Aert once again picked up the pace for his captain Vingegaard, and then it was over for the defending champion.

He lost more than a minute at the finish.

Country and people:

The tour is almost over and at this point cheese has not yet been discussed.

What an omission.

There is Crabotin, Bethmale, Pilota and Estibere from the Pyrenees.

And there is the Ossau Iraty.

The Ossau Iraty from the region is a sheep's milk cheese »with a spicy and fruity taste.

It tastes delicious with a dark jam.” Source: www.feiner-kaese.de.

The wish points:

It wasn't a Saturday, it was a Thursday.

The ARD is allowed to take off its dotted jersey in the commentary booth, which it had celebrated like a sacred treasure in the previous days.

Simon Geschke's dream is over.

And the mountain jersey is now also worn by Vingegaard.

The outlook:

This tour, which began in Denmark, will see the first Danish Tour de France winner since Bjarne Riis.

If you mean well with Jonas Vingegaard, the parallels should end there.

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2022-07-21

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