08-07-2022, 18:33
And surprise, surprise, as our Cilla used to say, Tadej Pogacar won once again to extend his GC lead. After a spirited effort by Lennard Kamna, he was eventually caught with 100m to go by Jonas Vingegaard and Pogacar, who always seems to have something in reserve and he won the race to the top. Primoz Roglic finished in 3rd just ahead of Kamna and Geraint Thomas.
Pogacar now leads the GC rankings by 35 seconds from Vingegaard, with Thomas 3rd, 1 minute 10 seconds behind the leader.
Wout van Aert still wears the Green Jersey by a comfortable margin ahead of Fabio Jakobsen and Pogacar.
Magnus Cort Neilsen leads the Polka Dot Jersey competition, but only by 1 point from Pogacar, with Vingegaard a further 2 points behind.
Tomorrow sees the start of Stage 8 from Dole, finishing 186km later in the Olympic Stadium in Lausanne. It has an early Sprint after 47km followed by two Category 4 climbs and two Category 3 climbs. The specialist climbers will probably save themselves for the rigours of Sunday's stage, with most of the GC contenders keeping an eye on each other. Wout van Aert could push hard for a stage win, if he's not on domestique duties for Vingegaard and Roglic. Romain Bardet also might have a good outside chance of victory. The way he's riding, Tadej Pogacar could win just about every stage, so can't be discounted.
The start town, Dole, was the birthplace of scientist and chemist Louis Pasteur, another flawed French genius like Platini. Lausanne is universally famous for being a sports administrative centre, most notably the International Olympic Committee. As well as being the burial place of Coco Chanel, it was also the city where both Peter Carl Faberge and Georges Simenon died - Simenon introduced the world to the character of Maigret, yet another flawed French genius. On a more positive note, Stan Wawrinka was born in Lausanne.
Stage 9 on Sunday starts off in Aigle and finishes 193km later in Chatel Les Portes Du Soleil back in France. The first 153km consists of a clockwise loop back into Aigle, then heads south then west to the finish. The first half of the stage is fairly gentle with a Category 4 climb and an intermediate sprint. The second half kicks off with a Category 2 climb then two Category 1 climbs. As is often the case, the descents might prove just as important as the ascents, so there could be a big attack on the long descent from Col de la Croix with 60km to go. Bauke Mollema might be the man to do it. Otherwise Pogacar or perhaps Adam Yates or Geraint Thomas could well be in the mix. Aleksandr Vlasov, if he has recovered from his exertions today, is another who should feature prominently along with Primoz Roglic.
Aigle is best known as the headquarters of the International Cycling Union and less known as the birthplace of ex-Magpies, Siem de Jong and Luuk de Jong. Chatel has an Interpretation Centre For Smuggling (being near the Swiss Franc border - see what I did there?). Don't take unknown packages back home for a "friend", pack your own bags, you know the drill.
Pogacar now leads the GC rankings by 35 seconds from Vingegaard, with Thomas 3rd, 1 minute 10 seconds behind the leader.
Wout van Aert still wears the Green Jersey by a comfortable margin ahead of Fabio Jakobsen and Pogacar.
Magnus Cort Neilsen leads the Polka Dot Jersey competition, but only by 1 point from Pogacar, with Vingegaard a further 2 points behind.
Tomorrow sees the start of Stage 8 from Dole, finishing 186km later in the Olympic Stadium in Lausanne. It has an early Sprint after 47km followed by two Category 4 climbs and two Category 3 climbs. The specialist climbers will probably save themselves for the rigours of Sunday's stage, with most of the GC contenders keeping an eye on each other. Wout van Aert could push hard for a stage win, if he's not on domestique duties for Vingegaard and Roglic. Romain Bardet also might have a good outside chance of victory. The way he's riding, Tadej Pogacar could win just about every stage, so can't be discounted.
The start town, Dole, was the birthplace of scientist and chemist Louis Pasteur, another flawed French genius like Platini. Lausanne is universally famous for being a sports administrative centre, most notably the International Olympic Committee. As well as being the burial place of Coco Chanel, it was also the city where both Peter Carl Faberge and Georges Simenon died - Simenon introduced the world to the character of Maigret, yet another flawed French genius. On a more positive note, Stan Wawrinka was born in Lausanne.
Stage 9 on Sunday starts off in Aigle and finishes 193km later in Chatel Les Portes Du Soleil back in France. The first 153km consists of a clockwise loop back into Aigle, then heads south then west to the finish. The first half of the stage is fairly gentle with a Category 4 climb and an intermediate sprint. The second half kicks off with a Category 2 climb then two Category 1 climbs. As is often the case, the descents might prove just as important as the ascents, so there could be a big attack on the long descent from Col de la Croix with 60km to go. Bauke Mollema might be the man to do it. Otherwise Pogacar or perhaps Adam Yates or Geraint Thomas could well be in the mix. Aleksandr Vlasov, if he has recovered from his exertions today, is another who should feature prominently along with Primoz Roglic.
Aigle is best known as the headquarters of the International Cycling Union and less known as the birthplace of ex-Magpies, Siem de Jong and Luuk de Jong. Chatel has an Interpretation Centre For Smuggling (being near the Swiss Franc border - see what I did there?). Don't take unknown packages back home for a "friend", pack your own bags, you know the drill.
Cabbage is still good for you