What I’m Watching this Final Week

I say this every year, but concept of reality TV was originally derived, by Dutch TV producers, from the daily drama and action of Tour de France. Being eliminated from le Tour is “being voted off the island” and so on. The Tour has traditionally been raced with public entertainment value in mind, riders would pull off “numbers” that defined them for the public who would flock to ticketed criteriums to see their idols in person. The great Englishman Tommy Simpson was racing his fatal 1967 Tour in an attempt to change his public image from that of the brave, long breakaway man to one of a Tour contender, much against the wishes of the then, all-powerful post-Tour criterium managers who wanted to keep selling “Breakaway Tommy” to the public. 53-years later, Benoit Cosenefroy, holder of the Polka-Dot jersey since Stage 2 is cultivating his own public image with this Tour performance, one which he’ll be able to monetize whether he carries the jersey to Paris or not. Every rider in the Tour wants to come home with something to show from it, some moment in the sun that the public recognizes and applauds. It always has and always will be that way. Here some stories that I’m enjoying this Tour. Guillaume Martin has fascinated me this Tour. The 26-year old Frenchman on Cofidis holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophy and comes from a creative family. His mother is an actress and his father – in something very dear to my heart – is an Aikido instructor. On a side note, if I were ever to develop a racer again I’d make them study Aikido in the winters. Martin is a published author, his work, Socrate à Vélo (Socrates on a Bicycle), about teams of philosophers racing the Tour, the Greeks on one team, the Germans on another, is an example of this creative who’s found himself in the tough environment of the pros. He’s approached this season with all seriousness, enduring long periods in altitude chambers at the French National Cross Country Ski training center combined with high altitude training camps – as have all the teams it should be noted, the result giving us this incredibly fast Tour. Martin, who sat third in the GC from Stage 7 through 13 before losing time on the Puy Mary – he’s still suffering from a crash – was excellent on the climb to the Grand Colombier on Sunday. A recurring derailleur problem struck at the foot of the climb and his fight to regain the peloton, then under Wout van Aert mega-pressure, made for great drama. His drop in GC means he has room to move so look for a number out of him in the days to come. I feel terrible for Nairo Quintana, now basically a pedaling mummy, bandaged on his legs, arms and hips. Unable to sleep, desperate to finish the Tour, the most popular racer of Colombia carries the responsibilities of his county and fans. He’d shown beautiful form in the Pyrenees, I had him pegged for the podium, but now, in the great tradition of the Tour, his race is to simply get his damaged body to Paris. Quintana’s daily struggles will make for compelling viewing. What will Alejandro Valverde do this week? The old fox is looking better and better as the Tour progresses. To note, even though young Enric Mas is their declared GC leader, Valverde was given the number one slot in the team race numbers (teams are given sets of numbers, 1-8 / 21-28/ 31-38, etc., with the designated team leader awarded the number one of their respective series). The battle for Green will enthrall. Can Sam Bennett finish the Tour? He’s been dropping like a stone every time the road goes uphill and Peter Sagan is going to do everything in his power to make life miserable for the Irishman. Even Julian Alaphilippe has been sent back to shepherd the Green Jersey through the tough days. Richie Porte, now that the heavy mental responsibilities of leadership have been in a way lifted from him, is racing the best he has in years. Can he hold off all of the pretenders for the third rung on the podium? Challenger Mikel Landa is in form and seemingly confident (after seeing the Movistar documentary on Netfilx, it was clear was that the Spaniard needs a full-time sports psychologist in his ear rather than a Team Director). Rigoberto Uran, currently sitting in third continues to follow rather than take initiative, but he’s very endurant and perhaps his waiting game will pay off this final, extraordinarily hard week. Adam Yates is another to watch of course, he keeps denying any ambition, but somehow finds himself in 5th overall, and as shown by his attack on the Colombier, the only one against the Jumbo-Visma, he’s good. Will Egan Bernal come out fighting? Has he mentally collapsed at this first-ever major career set-back or is he made of sterner stuff? I’d love to see a great, reputation-restoring raid from him in the Alps. One that would get us all cheering for him again. I want to watch Marc Hirschi do a descent in the Alps. Simple as that. Of course, the final fight between Roglič and Pogačar is on everyone’s minds. Of note is the fact that Pogačar beat Roglič to win the Slovenian Time Trial National Championship. So waiting for the final test of the Tour, the mountain Time Trial on Saturday, represents a huge gamble for the Yellow Jersey. He’d sleep better at night with more that the 40” in hand on his young compatriot. Perhaps a change from the Jumbo-Visma steamroller team tactics is in order, a search for a way to isolate Pogačar and capitalize on the weakness of his team. So sit back and get ready for the beauty and action of the Alps, always the highlight of the Tour de France.