The Final Two Basque Stages
Victor Lefay’s win on Stage 2, and his capture - and subsequent defense the following day - of the Green Points Jersey, was a triumph of many facets. It was a triumph of the romantics, the unprogrammed athletes who find their own way in sport, the ones who ignore whistles and coaching diagrams preferring to compete on instinct and for the pure joy of sport. Lefay is regarded with a certain bemusement in the racing world for his Ferdinand the Bull approach; often stopping to smell the flowers rather than to throw himself into the maw of VAM, wattage and all of the measuring, poking and prodding of the modern, stressed-out athlete.
His is also a triumph for the virtues of perseverance. In 2020 he was diagnosed with femoral bone tumors and the corrective operations kept him off the bike for 13-months. He’s had bad crashes, several bouts with Covid and a go-for-broke racing style that has hindered his result sheet. However, as is often with aggressive racers, when it works, it really works as he now has a Giro stage (2021 Stage 8 - Foggia-Guardia Sanframondi) and a Tour stage in the pocket. His immense talent has long been an open secret in the WorldTour: Ineos has been on the hunt for his services along with four other teams, all before his win in San Sebastian. The relaxed young man’s future is bright. Perseverance also defines his Cofidis team, who have suffered 15 empty years between Tour stage wins.
A resurgent French cycling industry also shares in the triumph as Lefay won on the new Look 795 Blade. While the French have long made track bikes coveted by cycling federations worldwide, the road versions have been somewhat..meh, it must be said. With the new 795, Look is, in my view, leading the way rather than playing catch up as they have been for years. Today’s WorldTour racer sits on their machine in very much the manner of a Team Pursuiter: high and forward on the bike with a long low stem way out in front. Almost all frames today are designed for a more rearward position, with 73- and 73.5-degree seat angles. The riders compensate by either jamming their saddles all the way forward in the rails (Pogačar for example) or as with Ineos, using Zero setback posts, all throwing on long, up to 14 and even 15cm stems to compensate for the virtually shortened top tubes. The 795 is fully designed for the WorldTour, with a 74.5 seat angle, the front of the bike pushed forward, yet the rear slightly longer giving a proper balance to the now centered racers. Must say, I really lust for one, to feel how that new design plays out. Bien fait!
UAE came out blazing on Stage 2, the longest of the Tour, 208.9-kilometes from Vitoria-Gastiez to San Sebastian. While American Neilsen Powless made the early morning break, and in the manner of his EF Education Easy Post teammate Magnus Cort last year, putting his all into grabbing KOM points along the route to add to his Polka Dot Jersey tally, the UAE kept an iron grip control of the peloton the entire day. Was it to defend the Yellow Jersey of Adam Yates, their stated co-leader? Or for Pogacâr? UAE are playing this guessing game to perfection as we saw on Stage One. What is certain is that they made sure to keep the break within catching distance.
Nielson Powless gave us an exciting day. Final man left in front from the break, he was desperately trying to get to the top of the famed and final Jaizkibel climb - site of his 2021 win in the San Sebastian Classic - in front. But behind the war was on, with the Yellow Jersey looking particularly strong and the Jumbo-Visma seeming a physical notch below. What was clear was that Pogačar and Vingegaard both wanted the 7” time bonus at the top. The reduced peloton swept by Nielson with 3.5-k to the summit where a sprint between two Tour favorites was easily won by the Slovenian. The duo plunged down the descent and, for the second day in a row, Vingegaard dropped his gloves, refusing to work, allowing 22-men to catch.
It all looked perfect for Wout van Aert yet on the run in the Belgian great was having to close his own gaps. While his remaining teammates did their best, Vingegaard was passive; his help would have made all the difference in the world. Taking advantage of a second day in a row of Jumbo-Visma incoherence, Lefay exploded away with 800-meters to go for the win, while Van Aert just beat Pogačar to the line. The Slovenian, in the manner of his idol Primoz Roglič, grappled 12” of bonuses, leaving him 11” ahead of Vingegaard in the overall, with Yates still in Yellow. Another perfect day for UAE, another imperfect one for Jumbo-Visma. The warranted post-race fury of Van Aert post-race has been widely reported. Vingegaard needs to decide if he is really a leader, capable of the generosity a true leader needs to have, the ability to share the spoils of war with his soldiers. Van Aert has buried himself for this team over the years, sacrificing his own chances many a time. They needed to do better by him in San Sebastian because that relative parsimony of effort on Vingegaard’s part could backfire at exactly the wrong time.
The final Basque stage, with the finish in France at Bayonne, was a relaxed affair. After two days of classic racing, and the Pyrenees looming around the corner, the exhausted peloton rolled to the finish. Neilson Powless took advantage of the racing lull to go on a race-long breakaway, his focus clearly on the Polka Dot Jersey, the efforts breathing life into his discouraged team after the loss of their leader Carapaz.
The sprint was clearly won by Jasper Philipsen, led out by Mathieu van der Poel, an exciting sight. There was a bit of pro forma complaint about the way Philipsen had ridden the sprint - from the front - but in the end everyone knew who had won and won well.