A Bittersweet Day

My wife was at her downtown hair salon the other day and overheard one of the hairdressers saying to a client: “I follow the Tour de France. I don’t really understand a lot of it, but just enjoy watching the race.” I think there’s a lot of that out there, maybe its an ASMR thing, the flowing rhythm of the peloton, the whirr of the gears and the soothing voices of a Phil Liggett or Anthony McCrossan. Some beautiful, stress reducing time to spend in July.

Yesterday, with its start in exquisite Libourne, past the $650 a bottle Chateau Petrus vineyard and through the culinary and scenic paradise of the Périgord towards the finish in the fine porcelain and luxury goods center of Limoges, showcased the sumptuous beauty of la France at her best. It must have been a great one for our hairdresser, certainly was for me.

The race made its usual 60-kph from-the-blocks start, and after about an hour, a three-man formed consisting of: Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), another Anthony, this one Delaplace (Team Arkéa Samsic), and surprisingly, in a rare breakaway appearance, the Tractor himself, Tim Declercq of Soudal Quickstep. Everyone watching must have been rooting for Tim, so unselfish has he been throughout his career, so giving of himself to the team cause that the idea of him finally having a chance to win a pro race was gratifying. The trio forged their way to a 5’20” lead over the peloton, but, with the average speed hovering above 48-kph, they were destined to be reeled in.

At 60-km to go tragedy struck when Mark Cavendish crashed to the ground, breaking his collarbone. He’d come so close to winning and capturing the all-time stage winner record in Bordeaux, so the shock of his Tour ending in that brutal way was shared by us all. I believe we all mourned along with him, the post-race reactions from his fellow racers were universally sad and respectful.

As always, however, the race waits for no one and up front the Jumbo-Visma, with help from Cofidis - for Bryan Coquard - and Lidl-Trek for their leader, the former World Champion Mads Pedersen, were simply blasting towards the finish. There were two, 1.3-km climbs near the end, and the Dutch team, working for Wout van Aert, went up them so fast that the peloton split in two. Top riders such as the Polka Dot Jersey holder Neilsen Powless and former Tour winner Egan Bernal were spit out the back. The run-in to Limoges was hypersonic - the average speed of the race was just under 48-kph so imagine the speeds over the final kilometers, the big teams were in front, led out of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team as always, yet it was a different finish than normal: the final 800-meters were on a 4% uphill.

The sprint launched, Van Aert was in perfect position, but he crossed wheels with his lead-out man Christophe Laporte, braked to go around and that was that for him. Big Mads Pedersen who is not really a pure sprinter but more of a very strong man, found the uphill to his liking and won the stage in a clean, clear manner. A fine and needed result for the Lidl-Trek team after their GC man, Giulio Ciccone had plummeted from third overall on Stage 5 to 26th.

Today the finish on the historic Puy de Dôme climb, more carnage in store for your viewing pleasure.