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The Tour De France is currently in the French Alps and this is normally the point where the winner is decided or gives you a better indication who it might be. This year has been very different to all the other races I have watched as in the past attacking the yellow jersey has always happened on the mountain stages of the race.
Two days ago the team Jumbo Visma had a plan to attack the two time champion and the then current holder of the yellow jersey Tadej Pojacar on the flat part of the stage. This was so unusual as this has never been seen before and worked like a dream. Jumbo Visma had three riders attacking Pojacar for over 40 kilometers with attempted break aways which he kept fighting back. The relentless attacks had a price and that was sapping any energy reserves Pojacar had in the tank which left him stranded on the steep mountain pass that was still to come.
Jonas Vingegaard at that point was 39 seconds behind Pojacar in the rankings and managed to turn that into a 2 minute 22 second lead. In all the years I have been watching the race has been won on the steep mountain roads but this time the work done on the flat part of the stage was the beginning of the end.
Team tactics look as though they have won the jersey and the race this year even with 9 stages still to go.
Pojacar is powerful on the mountain stages and the only hope anyone had of beating him had to be a team effort before they hit the mountains. Any hope Pojacar has of winning back the yellow jersey is fading slowly as he has lost a number of team members to covid. Honestly I don't think his team was strong enough anyway to protect him from the constant attacks he has had to endure.
Pojacar is known as the "beast" as he has been the dominant rider over the last two years winning comfortably long before the last stage hitting Paris. His strength is also his weakness as he has been attacking during stages he didn't have to and has burned up too much energy and weakened his team at the same time. The smart move would have been to hold back as this has now come at a price and looks to have cost him the Tour this year.
Being the favorite and wearing yellow comes at a price as you are the target and main threat. In the past we have seen how teams have sat back leaving it up to their strongest riders to attack on the steepest slopes normally failing. The yellow jersey normally has a strong team around them that keeps the pace high and nullifies any threats. Pojacar and his team have overlooked this as the team had never expected this to happen. He is firmly on his own and next year will need a stronger team if he is going to win again.
The team is so overlooked as we always hear about the winner, but the truth is the team helps the winner achieve through the work they endure over the 3 weeks of cycling. Jumbo Visma have a team strong enough for the champion this year even if they don't win the team event overall. They have a mixture of many talented riders who could be leaders in other teams. Ineos have a strong team, but they seem to be all individuals and no one rider strong enough to win the individual title, but strong enough to win the team title.
The next few days will be fascinating to see how and what Pojacar does as he is a fighter and won't take being beaten lightly. We still have the Pyrenees ahead yet somehow think Pojacar is already cooked as without a team he is on his own.