Brothers in Arms
I certainly called it wrong yesterday, thinking that the Deceuninck-Quickstep’s might be too tired to dominate Stage 13, the second longest of the Tour at 220-kilometers, after having fought so hard to bring Mark Cavendish through the Alps and Mount Ventoux stages. They had to be exhausted in fact because the work of getting a poor climber in under the time limits is challenging as the ‘horses’ have to ride flat out on the descents and flats to make up the chunks of time lost on the climbs and, isolated as they were, far behind the main ‘autobus’ (large group of non-climbers who organize to make the cut-off together) had to eat all that wind with no relief. But it never pays to underestimate the Wolfpack, one of the greatest teams of all time, as they ignored their fatigue to rally around the Green Jersey for the win in Carcassonne, their 5th out of 13 Stages so far.
The team controlled the race the entire day, the ‘Tractor’ Tim Declercq prominent in front as always, but things began to go wrong for them as the race heated up and the tailwinds brought the speeds up to insane levels. A dreadful crash happened on 75-kph twisting descent, Declercq reportedly hit gravel and went down into a ravine followed by Simon Yates, Nacer Bouhanni, Roger Kluge, Geraint Thomas…the list went on. Declercq got up and limped to the finish, barely making the time limit, but others didn’t: Kluge, Yates, Lucas Hamilton and as of this morning Warren Barguil all went home, their Tour dreams over.
After a pause to allow the stragglers to rejoin, the peloton burst into action anew with Team Ineos mounting an echelon attack. The fighting paid end to Julian Alaphilippe, the World Champion drifting to the back, perhaps exhausted from all the work he’d already done for the team, perhaps spooked by the crash. The Wolfpack was now down by two.
Strong challenges came on the run-in to Carcassonne, teams sensing the weakening of the Wolfpack as strong trains formed to challenge, especially the Alpecin-Fenix for Jasper Phillipsen and Movistar for Ivan Garcia Cortina. The peloton was all together with three-kilometers to go and without missing a beat, Deceuninck-Quickstep’s climber Mattia Cattaneo slotted in, showing just how versatile everyone on that team is, launching their sprint train with a long, powerful effort. We all talk about Michael Mørkøv and his magical lead-out abilities, but Kasper Asgreen deserves equal billing because he lit it up with 1.6-km to go and incredibly, held that warp speed for almost a full kilometer, stringing out the peloton to put his remaining three teammates in perfect position for the win. Davide Ballerini was so excited that he dropped his teammates in the leadout which the wily Mørkøv used to manipulate Garcia Cortina into launching his sprint too early. Mørkøv used Garcia Cortina as a target, and with Cavendish glued to his wheel, flew by the Spaniard. Cavendish showed that even at 36-years-old his acceleration in the final 50-meters of a race is unmatched, holding off Phillipsen for a team one-two on the day.
Mark Cavendish has been gracefully avoiding any comparisons with Eddy Merckx and the chase for his all-time Tour de France stage win record of 34 wins, which he has now equaled in Carcassonne. His post-race interview was one of the most charming, honest ones I’ve ever heard. The Manxman was clearly in a deep state of exhaustion, overwhelmed by the fact that, as he hugged his men at the finish, “we made history today, we made history”. Cavendish spoke of how very deep he had to go, how the day with its heat, distance, high-speeds, and wind had been terribly hard to control and that, “when you have a team like that working for you, you just have to come through.” It’s clear that, despite his 15-years as a professional, he still holds the Tour and all it represents with deep respect and awe, finally responding to the questions about Eddy Merckx’s record by saying, “I won a stage at the Tour de France. That’s what counts, it’s what I’ve dreamed about since I was a boy.”
These next days in the Pyrenees mountains will be brutal for a battered and bruised peloton that has seen 35 abandons so far in this savage Tour de France. Mark Cavendish has not ridden a Grand Tour in two-years, so he rides into the unknown, the glory of yesterday quickly turned back into survival mode. The Pyrenees always cause trouble, there’s something mystical and dangerous about them. The ‘Cavendish Watch’, our staying glued to the telly, long after the winner has passed to see if Cav makes the time limit, to see if he can make it to Paris and even surpass Eddy Merckx’s record, will continue.