“,”elementId”:”4ea067cb-b309-415c-88ed-2c5a4d1e974e”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1657188987000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”11.16 BST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1657189141000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”: “11.19 BST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1657189141000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”11.19 BST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”11.19″,”title”:”And away we go!”,”contributors”:[]”,”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 7 Jul 2022 11.22 BST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 7 Jul 2022 11.00 BST”},{“id”:”62c5b8058f088ba9fc80d9ed”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
The Tour is the Tour, as we found on Wednesday on the cobbles, though what that usually means is that Tadej Pogacar survives when all others fall apart. That’s what happened yesterday, as Wout van Aert tried his best to save his team leaders and buried himself even if he did stay in yellow, though disaster befell Primoz Roglic as he dislocated and then reset his own shoulder. Such is life on the cobbles, and to follow up, we have the longest stage of the Tour. The riders must be delighted to follow on from the carnage of Wednesday. They will be speeding along all day, and then a nasty climb not far from the flamme rouge.
“,”elementId”:”1fdbc012-8d11-4ecf-80d6-0d3a7d6fd04f”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Per William Fotheringham:
“,”elementId”:”1846de8e-29c8-48a7-94f0-b106abb834ff”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement”,”html”:”
n
n
The longest stage of the race has a twist in the tail: the Côte de Pulventeux comes 6km from the finish, and is 800m at 12%, so steep enough to split the field before the finish up the longer, draggier, Côte des Religieuses. It is a finish made for any of the overall contenders, but all eyes will be on Van der Poel with Julian Alaphilippe absent.
n
n
“,”elementId”:”b9f13d7c-4636-4ea9-bbf7-882fa470765a”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Van der Poel didn’t look in such good nick yesterday, so that opens up the contenders.
“,”elementId”:”8be324bb-2466-43e0-8583-6f710297db3a”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.SubheadingBlockElement”,”html”:”
GC after stage five
“,”elementId”:”129c7001-cff4-4b96-9494-8a00abcd8f1a”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
1) Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma): 16 hr 17’ 22”
2) Neilson Powless (EF Education-Easypost) +13”
3) Edvald Boasson Hagen (TotalEnergies) +14”
4) Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +19”
5) Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) +25”
6) Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) +36”
7) Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
8) Adam Yates (Ineos) +48”
9) Tom Pidcock (Ineos) +49”
10) Geraint Thomas (Ineos) +50”
“,”elementId”:”b73be06b-99af-4a49-ab19-45697faaeaf2″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.InteractiveBlockElement”,”url”:”https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2022/06/stage_6-zip/giv-6562LmfGPp7ubJ9b/”,”alt”:”Stage six (hilly, 220km)”,”scriptUrl”:”https://interactive.guim.co.uk/embed/iframe-wrapper/0.1/boot.js”,”isMandatory”:false,”elementId”:”64013688-8c6b-4044-bb21-7cd1f485ef98″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1657188044000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”11.00 BST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1657184850000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”: “10.07 BST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1657188044000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”11.00 BST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”11.00″,”title”:”Preamble”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 7 Jul 2022 11.22 BST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 7 Jul 2022 11.00 BST”}],”filterKeyEvents”:false,”format”:{“display”:0,” theme”:2,”design”:9},”id”:”key-events-carousel-mobile”}”>
Key events:
217 km to go: An early faller, and there’s a few of them forced off the side of the road. Just one goes down fully, and that’s Mathieu Burgaudeau of TotalEnergies, who eventually gets fixed up, and speeds back to the pack. He looks only a little bashed up.
And away we go!
Christian Prudhomme waves them along on the longest ride of Le Tour, and off go a couple of riders in an early breakaway. Action right from the start, with Alexis Vuillermoz of TotalEnergies leading out a huge break that doesn’t last very long. Too many teams getting away quickly for that to survive.
The cobbles claimed a few victims, including the key lieutenant to Peter Sagan.
“Additional examinations revealed a fracture of a cervical vertebra requiring immobilization for a few weeks. Daniel Oss is therefore forced to leave the Tour de France… The whole team wishes you a good recovery Daniel.”
Oss crashed into a spectator on the cobbles and actually finished the stage.
The other two forced to abandon were Michael Gogl (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Jack Haig, of Bahrain Victorious, who abandoned last year, too
We’re not far from the start of the race proper in Binche, and the riders are making their way through the streets to the départ reel, as they take part in the départ fictif.
Here’s a couple of takes on Wednesday’s events on the cobbles.
With Jumbo-Visma’s leader Primoz Roglic spreadeagled on the road, the Slovenian double Tour winner made hay after his compatriot had been down taken by a roadside bale, designed to steer the riders safely through a roundabout. Even the seemingly super-powered Wout van Aert, winner of stage four, crashed, and was called on to try and help his embattled team leaders, Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard, recover lost ground.
Van Aert’s efforts were enough to pull Vingegaard back to the front, but not Roglic, who lost more than two minutes to the UAE Emirates rider. “Just a shit day,” Van Aert said succinctly, even though he did enough to hang on to the race leader’s yellow jersey.
It was an amazing result for Clarke, who wondered if he had reached the end of his career last winter when he was left without a team.
“To have Israel ring me up and say, ‘We’ll give you that chance,’ just gives you such a reality check to make the most of every opportunity,” said Clarke.
“All year this season, I’ve come out in every race swinging.
“I still can’t believe I got it on the line there. Taco was well ahead of me with less than 50 meters to go. I was cramping in both legs and I just lined up the biggest throw I could possibly do and I just prayed it was enough.
“I need to watch the replay, I still don’t quite believe it!
“I moved to Europe when I was 16 – and I turned 36 on the second rest day [18 July]. That’s 20 years in Europe and the dream finally came true!”
Preamble
The Tour is the Tour, as we found on Wednesday on the cobbles, though what that usually means is that Tadej Pogacar survives when all others fall apart. That’s what happened yesterday, as Wout van Aert tried his best to save his team leaders and buried himself even if he did stay in yellow, though disaster befell Primoz Roglic as he dislocated and then reset his own shoulder from him. Such is life on the cobbles, and to follow up, we have the longest stage of the Tour. The riders must be delighted to follow on from the carnage of Wednesday. They will be speeding along all day, and then a nasty climb not far from the flamme rouge.
Per William Fotheringham:
The longest stage of the race has a twist in the tail: the Côte de Pulventeux comes 6km from the finish, and is 800m at 12%, so steep enough to split the field before the finish up the longer, draggier, Côte des Religieuses. It is a finish made for any of the overall contenders, but all eyes will be on Van der Poel with Julian Alaphilippe absent.
Van der Poel didn’t look in such good nick yesterday, so that opens up the contenders.
GC after stage five
1) Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma): 16hrs 17’22”
2) Neilson Powless (EF Education-Easypost) +13”
3) Edvald Boasson Hagen (Total Energies) +14”
4) Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +19”
5) Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) +25”
6) Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) +36”
7) Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma)
8) Adam Yates (Ineos) +48”
9) Tom Pidcock (Ineos) +49”
10) Geraint Thomas (Ineos) +50”
www.theguardian.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism