Racing with Joy

I made an inspirational video for an US-based racing team a few weeks ago after hearing that the boys were a bit down. One of the things I told them was: “Race with joy in your hearts, you’ll ride much better.” That “joy of racing” is what we’re all seeing in this already remarkable Tour de France and was apparent in the way the breakaway fought for the Best Climber points, tackling each hilltop as though it was a stage finish. Attacks, counter-attacks, they really went for it and made an already entertaining – and beautiful – stage all the better. The Green Jersey sprint at kilometer 84 in Plouha was of particular interest. The six-man breakaway had put on yet another great show for the sprint and the field had only the crumbs of the 7th place to gather but my goodness, did they go for it. There were lead-out trains, all the big names in front, all sorts of action. Dane Michael Mørkøv, the very best in the world at this sort of thing, was leading out Mark Cavendish, Sagan was there, I really couldn’t believe I was seeing such action for a points sprint. While all this hubbub was going on, Caleb Ewan, the Aussie Pocket Rocket, calmly lined up, alone on the right side of the road, put it in a very big gear and launched in a power move that left the rest of the sprinters visibly stunned. 

 Ewan is transitioning from the “little guy who hides in the wheels until the final 50-meters” into something else. We saw it at Milano-Sanremo on the final Poggio climb when he was there with all the power men, going blow for blow. He only made it through seven stages of the Giro – but with two stage wins in hand – he was unjustly criticized for leaving because of a sore knee - but showed there that he’s developing enduring wattage to go with all that speed. The Aussie has a deep level of fitness now and I look for him to perform outside of the normal expectations of a pure sprinter. Watch him today to see if he doesn’t start taking a more power-based approach to the sprint finish and to see what his intentions are regarding the Green Jersey. I believe he wants to wear it in Paris.

 I’m watching the Tour on Peacock, the NBC streaming service, and very much enjoying Anthony McCrossan and Simon Gerrans especially the fact that they are physically at the Tour, channeling the excitement through to us as no Zoom coverage possibly can. Gerrans, a former Milano-Sanremo winner, knows a lot about bicycles and the duo did quite a lengthy bit on the popularity of hand frame builders, the delights of steel and titanium frames and the two-year waiting list these builders (“Ha!” snorts Richard Sachs, “only two years? Amateurs!”) all seem to have now. It was a fine moment of commentary, a bridging of racing to all cycling and cyclists and an acknowledgment of how, in the end, we all love bikes. 

 Ok, I cried, cried like a baby and I’m not the only one. You’ve just got to love cycling after yesterday. For those who might not know, Raymond Poulidor (deceased November 13, 2019) was a cycling icon, the most popular racer in France in the 1960’s and beyond, known for his humility and fighting spirit. Nicknamed Pou-Pou, he never wore the Yellow Jersey, not even for one day in his career. Mind you, Poulidor won lots of big races, but was always considered the underdog, a status that contributed to his enormous fame in France. Yesterday’s winner and new Yellow Jersey, Mathieu van der Poel, is the grandson of Pou-Pou.

Race organizers are experimenting a bit now, throwing circuits in at the end of stages and yesterday’s stage had two climbs up the two-kilometer long Mûr-de-Bretagne with the finish line at the top of the final ascension. Van der Poel, who famously turned down fantastic sums from Team Ineos to stay loyal to his little Belgian squad, showed us the virtues of patience. In the drag race to the bottom of the first time up the Mûr, with Ineos, Jumbo-Visma and all the rest lined up like freight trains, his Alpecin-Fenix team showed themselves the equal to anyone else, placing the Dutchman in perfect position at the base. Van der Poel is a muscular racer, his strength just oozes out which is apparent to anyone, cycling fan or not. His explosion up that climb was thrilling to watch, all the more so when we realized that there were eight-seconds bonus at the top, and that star was in fact on the hunt for the Yellow Jersey. His 18” deficit on Julian Alaphilippe from Stage One was now down to 10”. 

 Second approach to the Mûr and Van der Poel’s Alpecin team still had three riders to help him. They were in front, across the road from the Ineos, drag racing that ultra-rich team to the limit, not giving an inch. Into the climb they went, an Alpecin rider miscalculated and went too early, but the reaction behind began to dismantle the Ineos juggernaut. Geraint Thomas lost the wheels and began to fade. Sonny Colbrelli, another transitioning sprinter, attacked hard, van der Poel came up, reacted, and launched, blowing away from the rest in a display of such pure power as we’ve rarely if ever seen before. He won, pointing his finger to the sky in commemoration of his famous Grand Father. The emotions were just beginning. In the final calculation, van der Poel had taken 6” out of the Two-Headed Slovenian Monster (Roglič and Pogacâr), 8” out of Alaphilippe and Carapaz, and with the 10” bonus for the win was now the Yellow Jersey, holding an 8” lead over Alaphilippe. We are all so very lucky to have these two magnificent racers to entertain us, it must be said.

 Van der Poel’s post-race collapse into tears, his heavily emotional walk to the podium, and finally, his defiant ripping off of the face mask to show the world a smile that we’ve never seen from him before, gave us a magical, deeply emotional moment that the Tour, with its long history and deep cultural roots, brings forth like no other sport. Vive le Tour!!!