{"id":3047,"date":"2021-07-06T13:49:48","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T13:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/ie\/?p=3047"},"modified":"2021-07-06T13:49:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T13:49:48","slug":"tdf-commentary-column-blood-sweat-and-tears-and-lots-and-lots-of-drama-in-the-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/ie\/2021\/07\/06\/tdf-commentary-column-blood-sweat-and-tears-and-lots-and-lots-of-drama-in-the-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"TdF Commentary Column: Blood, Sweat and Tears \u2013 and Lots and Lots of Drama in the Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Who would have thought that the first five stages of the Tour de France could provide so much drama? If it had been a movie, no one would have believed that a single sporting event could contain so much feel-good drama, so many horrific crashes and so many tears in such a short time.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with the feel-good, beginning with stage one. The popular <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Deceuninck%E2%80%93Quick-Step\">Deceuninck\u2013Quick-Step<\/a> rider Julian Alaphilippe became France\u2019s first opening-stage winner in 20 years after he produced one of his trademark bursts of power and speed in the final 2 km to win a comfortable victory and the yellow jersey. His win was all the more popular because his partner had given birth to their first child less than two weeks earlier.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3056\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3056\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Alaphillippe-profimedia-0618051394.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3056 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Alaphillippe-profimedia-0618051394.jpg\" alt=\"Julian Alaphilippe\" width=\"1000\" height=\"666\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Alaphillippe-profimedia-0618051394.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Alaphillippe-profimedia-0618051394-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Alaphillippe-profimedia-0618051394-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Alaphillippe-profimedia-0618051394-272x182.jpg 272w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3056\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alaphilippe entered the Tour with success. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, the Frenchman\u2019s win was a personal setback for the Dutch multi-discipline <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alpecin%E2%80%93Fenix\">Alpecin\u2013Fenix<\/a> rider Mathieu van der Poel who had made taking the yellow jersey in the first stage a primary goal of his first-ever appearance in the Tour de France.<\/p>\n<p>Van der Poel\u2019s maternal grandfather was the legendary French cyclist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/09\/18\/a-legendary-battle-of-the-1964-tour-de-france-jacques-anquetil-vs-poulidor\/\">Raymond Poulidor,<\/a> known as \u201cthe eternal Second\u201d because he never won the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tour_de_France\">Tour de France<\/a>,\u00a0finishing second three times and five times in the third place. In fact, Poulidor never wore the yellow jersey on the Tour, which is why van der Poel, who was very close to his grandfather, wanted to wear the <em>maillot jaune<\/em> to honour him.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-controller-wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">Pour toi \u2764\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MerciPoupou?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MerciPoupou<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Yellow \ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc9b <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qXNTcQ2vu3\">pic.twitter.com\/qXNTcQ2vu3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mathieu Van der Poel (@mathieuvdpoel) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mathieuvdpoel\/status\/1409229507744129027?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 27, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async data-src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<p>Well, he did just that in the second stage, producing two Alaphilippe-like bursts on the M\u00fbr-de-Bretagne, which the peloton climbed twice, to beat Tour favourites Tadej Poga\u010dar and Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d\u00a0to the finish and take the yellow jersey from Alaphilippe (who did not seem to mind at all).<\/p>\n<p>After the stage, a weeping <a href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/06\/28\/van-der-poel-puts-on-the-yellow-jersey-and-other-cool-news-from-the-world-of-cycling\/\">van der Poel<\/a> said that, of course, he was thinking of his grandfather when he crossed the finish line and was delighted that he had pulled it off since it was his last chance in the race to win the yellow jersey. Stage 4 produced another tearful winner, the veteran sprinter Mark Cavendish, who put an end to years of cycling misery by winning his first Tour stage in five years \u2013 and his thirty-first overall.<\/p>\n<p>The 36-year-old Cavendish, now riding with Alaphilippe\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Deceuninck%E2%80%93Quick-Step\">Deceuninck\u2013Quick-Step<\/a>, came down with the Epstein-Barr virus in 2018 and was taking part in the Tour only because the team\u2019s regular sprinter Sam Bennett pulled out due to a knee injury. Asked how he felt about the victory, a very emotional Cavendish said, \u201cI had fire in my eyes. Just being here is special enough. I thought I\u2019d never come back to this race.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3061\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3061\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2021\/07\/Mark-Cavendish-profimedia-0618570181.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3061\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Mark-Cavendish-profimedia-0618570181-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"Mark Cavendish\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Mark-Cavendish-profimedia-0618570181-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Mark-Cavendish-profimedia-0618570181-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Mark-Cavendish-profimedia-0618570181-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Mark-Cavendish-profimedia-0618570181-272x182.jpg 272w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Mark-Cavendish-profimedia-0618570181.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3061\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cavendish celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the fourth stage of the 2021 Tour. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Now for the feel-bad events, of which there have been too many and which can be summarized in a single word: <em>crash<\/em>. The first stage was marred by two mass crashes, one of them caused by a woman who stepped onto the road with a large placard, knocking down Jumbo-Visma\u2019s Tony Martin and causing more than fifty other riders to hit the pavement, including last year\u2019s runner-up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/06\/29\/ride2unite-podcast-with-primoz-roglic-i-had-to-learn-how-to-suffer\/\">Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d<\/a>\u00a0and four-time Tour winner Chris Froome. She was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-57668657\">arrested yesterday<\/a> by French police.<\/p>\n<p>More crashes followed in stage 3, with Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan, a favourite for the green jersey, forced to pull out of the race because of injuries suffered in a crash near the end of the stage. In falling, he took down seven-time green jersey winner Peter Sagan but the Slovak was not badly hurt.<\/p>\n<p>Rogli\u010d\u00a0again came to grief in the stage as did another yellow jersey favourite, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/11\/07\/geraint-thomas-is-fine-with-banning-power-meters\/\">Geraint Thomas<\/a> of Ineos Grenadiers, who dislocated his shoulder but was treated on the spot and finished the stage. However, the crashes resulted in both Rogli\u010d and Thomas losing precious time to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/09\/20\/tadej-pogacar-wins-the-2020-tour-de-france\/\">last year\u2019s Tour winner,<\/a> Tadej Poga\u010dar, who was less affected by the many spills than his rivals.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3069\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3069\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Thomas-at-the-2021-Tour-profimedia-0618331382.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3069\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Thomas-at-the-2021-Tour-profimedia-0618331382.jpg\" alt=\"Geraint Thomas at the 2021 Tour de France\" width=\"1000\" height=\"685\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Thomas-at-the-2021-Tour-profimedia-0618331382.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Thomas-at-the-2021-Tour-profimedia-0618331382-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/14\/2021\/07\/Thomas-at-the-2021-Tour-profimedia-0618331382-768x526.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3069\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Despite the crash and dislocated shoulder, Thomas finished the stage. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The real drama of the Tour de France, the race for the general classification, came in stage 5 \u2013 the first of two individual time trials (ITT), 27 km from Chang\u00e9 to Laval. And it was both dramatic and decisive. Anyone who recalls Poga\u010dar\u2019s spectacular performance in the time trial on stage 20 of last year\u2019s Tour will not be surprised to hear that he dominated his GC rivals again. The 22-year-old Slovene now sits in second place, just 8 seconds behind van der Poel (who gets to wear the yellow jersey for a few more days).<\/p>\n<p>Poga\u010dar is now 1 min 48 sec ahead of his main rival and countryman Rogli\u010d (who is tenth) and leads Thomas by 1 min 54 sec. His closest possible rival is Rogli\u010d\u2019s Jumbo-Visma teammate Wout van Aert who is in third, 22 seconds behind Poga\u010dar. (Van der Poel will quit the Tour early, to concentrate on the MTB competition in the Tokyo Olympics.) Van Aert is a wonderful rider and very good in the mountains. But stage 20 is again an ITT and nobody in this year\u2019s Tour appears to be able to beat Poga\u010dar in this discipline.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-controller-wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TDF2021?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TDF2021<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>The final result of today\u2019s time trial \u2935\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7re7hzgYjt\">pic.twitter.com\/7re7hzgYjt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/vismaleaseabike\/status\/1410262892474159119?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 30, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async data-src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<p>So, barring accident, illness or a very clever strategy by Jumbo-Visma, which seeks to exploit Poga\u010dar\u2019s one weakness, his UAE Emirates team, it\u2019s already hard to see who can deprive him of his second consecutive Tour de France win.<\/p>\n<p>But, as we have seen, anything can happen \u2013 and most likely will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who would have thought that the first five stages of the Tour de France could provide so much drama? If [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":3074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-3047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-cycling"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>2021 Tour de France Commentary Column - We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Who would have thought that the first five stages of the Tour de France could provide so much drama? 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