How to Get it Done
When the Wolfpack - the Deceuninck-Quikstep team of Green Jersey Sam Bennett - want to make something happen in a race, as Yoda said: (they) just do. Friday’s Stage 19 was the last real chance for Peter Sagan, the record holder of Green Jersey wins, to score the points needed to stay in contention for the prize, but he had to deal with a Wolfpack under orders to keep the Slovak as far away from any points as possible. The “TGV de Clermont-Frerrand “, big Rémi Cavagna - amazing how the Wolfpack all resemble one another - escaped the peloton alone with the objective of taking the Intermediate Sprint points away from Sagan. Cavagna, who like Julian Alaphilippe is from the center of France, is a powerful time trial rider, the current Champion of France in the discipline, and all of his talents were on display as he raced alone at over 50-kph, holding off the combined efforts of Sagan’s Bora-Hasgrohe team and even the Sunweb’s. Cavagna’s performance, taking that sprint away from the Bora’s in the way he did was nothing short of extraordinary, a complete and total effort on his part, 19-days of accumulated fatigue into the Tour. Cavagna showed us what the Wolfpack is about, how absolutely united they are and to what lengths they are willing to go for one another. It was great to watch.
Behind, some riders filtered away on a climb before the Intermediate Sprint, leaving the peloton only 5th place to contest. Bennett, perfectly led out by his team, took the sprint with ease from Sagan, inching closer to the podium in Paris.
The last part of the race was fascinating. Bennett was hauling his heavy body over the climbs using very big gears - he was clearly fighting hard on the tough racecourse - marking Sagan and not giving an inch. When the race exploded and Bennett found himself in the front group along with Sagan, Olympic Champion Greg Van Avermaet and basically a collection of the top Classic’s men in the business, he must have realized that something had indeed changed in his life over the course of this Tour de France. That he was now one of the big boys, the men who rip races apart with their massive power and speed. I think he was in shock, in a state of disbelief that he was there, going mano-a-mano with those men.
Adam Blythe, the excellent addition to the NBC broadcast team, seemed upset with Bennett at the end of the race, voicing his frustration that he had not taken the race by the throat instead of only marking Sagan and letting the stage win escape up the road. I don’t agree. Bennett is 29, he’d never been in that situation before and simply could not take the risk of being isolated with Sagan in the middle of a series of attacks and counter-attacks. It’s not as though the Irish Champion is 23 with lots of time ahead of him in case a risk doesn’t pay off. His team had a plan and he was sticking to it. What’s more, I think Sam Bennett, especially in watching him on the climbs, was riding with every bit of courage he had in him. He got over the climbs to beat Sagan for 8th place and now, barring incident, Sam Bennett will be the Green Jersey on the podium in Paris. No one was going to take that honor away from the Wolfpack, they’re bringing their boy home.
The final makeup of the podium and the Polka-Dot jersey will be decided in today’s time trial, oddly, the Polka-Dot points being awarded to the fastest time up the finishing, 5.9-km climb up to La Planche de Belles Filles with a separate time started at the bottom, creating difficult choices for some of the racers. Richard Carapaz, current holder of the Polka-Dot, might very well race the opening 30-k of flattish road as a warmup before blasting up the climb to try and get the best time and the jersey. Tadej Pogaćar is still racing to win, although it’s tough and second on the podium seems more certain, but is also in contention for the Polka-Dot but must race the entire event flat-out. It will be most interesting to see how the climbing times of Carapaz and Pogaćar compare. How will Miguel Angel Lopez do, currently in third, and who will win the fight for fourth between Richie Porte, Mikel Landa and Enric Mas. And finally, will Alejandro Valverde be able to hold off Damiano Caruso and stay in the top 10?
