Why does it look so yellow on him?
For even the most inebriated of Bastille Day enjoyers along the route of stage 10, no amount of pastis could blur the vision of the maillot jaune. On a day devoted to the tricolor, it was canary that took centre stage.
"I didn't know I was gonna win until the last kilometre. I remembered it was Bastille Day, and tried to honour the yellow jersey. Thanks to all the fans that came to the road, it was an amazing atmosphere – even though [there was] some booing. All the guys that were booing, they give us more power," says a gracious Tadej Pogačar beyond the finish line in Le Lioran.
If the crowds of la Fête Nationale wanted fireworks, then fireworks they got – but not in the breakaway battle they had hoped for, in which their countrymen might have prevailed. Eight French riders, including national champion Romain Grégoire, and Alex Baudin, Kévin Vauquelin, Valentin Paret-Peintre, and Benjamin Thomas carried the zeal of their nation into the break early doors, but the romance of that idea rapidly faded when UAE pushed the pace in the bunch.
Chapeau is certainly due. But the question for many a disgruntled French patriot returning home from the roadside this evening will probably be thus: did UAE really have to ruin the fun?
(Image credit: Getty)
Pogačar's power came in one trademark acceleration away from the leading group, for the umpteenth time, with 15.5 kilometres remaining on the Col de Pertus. A third Tour de France stage win of this year, a 24th on his palmarès, secured on day number 60 leading this famed race in his career – this time by three and a half impossible minutes, the most he's ever led by at this stage in the Tour. When you look at stats like that, it is certainly hard not to wonder why he'd even bother with an early week two medium mountain stage.
But for all our cries of 'give others a chance', it's worth remembering even champions of Pog's distinction have vices (albeit not many). A Le Lioran finish line is one of them.
"We have been targeting this stage since a long time ago. Two years ago, Jonas beat me in the sprint fair and square, and today I had similar legs at the finish completely destroyed," he says, recalling the 2024 finish when his perennial rival Vingegaard pipped him at the line. "Today was an incredible day. The team did a super good job."
As has become practice after a Pog victory, we should clutch at the necessary straws. Should UAE have pushed so hard on what was a fairly banal stage in comparison to next week's Alpine fest? There's no doubt Pogačar can handle the efforts, but can the rest of his team stay fresh? Isaac Del Toro's efforts in service of his leader today cost him time, and the white jersey now lands on the shoulders of Juan Ayuso. Was it really a good idea to expend his lieutenant like that?
In the end though, they did their job in a way Visma couldn't. Sepp Kuss distanced from his leader, as did Matteo Jorgenson, leaving only debutant Davide Piganzoli in support of a hustling Vingegaard. In the end, the Dane would be left to his own devices to haul a group of GC pretenders to the finish: France's great hope Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - Bora - hansgrohe) and the Lidl-Trek pairing, Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose. A resurgent Remco Evenepoel found his way back to the chase group in the final phase of the stage, bursting to the line two seconds ahead of Seixas and Lipowitz.
For Visma, once again, morale will be low. Another UAE attack, more time lost for Vingegaard. But while some might be worrying at his seventh-place finish behind the rest, it's worth noting Marc Reef's men will have the wider picture on their minds. Bigger mountains beckon in the back-end of the Tour, which will give Vingegaard at least an opportunity to make up time – even if trying might seem futile. His rival, Pogacar, said as much:
"I think the Tour so far was laid out really good for our capabilities, for the team and for me. I think that was our advantage in the first 10 days. We will see when the big mountains come, like Markstein is a really pure climbing day. I hope that my form will be good for these kind of days, but I think for sure the competitors will also be ready for the big mountains. I need to be really focused and not get too ahead of myself and keep calm. Anything can happen in one day and you can lose 30 minutes easily."
(Image credit: Getty)
Feigned caution, perhaps, but it's at least nice to see Pogacar thinking of others, even if he does gobble stages as they come. In the face of boos, cycling's champion is magnanimous – and when he starts quoting Taylor Swift, it makes him difficult to dislike:
"Haters gonna hate," he says. "I always think about tennis, Novak Djokovic, how great a mentality he has because I think he had one of the toughest careers about getting boos and unnecessary hate because he's the greatest. I always look up to him when someone is booing.
"But 99 percent of people are cheering for everybody. When you see the kids, you can see they are wearing different jerseys. One is wearing Visma, one is wearing Groupama, and one is wearing UAE. You can see that they have their favourites, but it's in the family, and it's really nice to see. Cycling fans are the greatest of all the sports I think."
Home fans will of course be saddened by another Bastille Day without a French victor, but it seems unfair to boo this wise victor. If only there were a World Cup semi-final to restore faith…
