A fierce storm and hail the size of marbles
The UAE Team Emirates–XRG leader and the peloton were chasing two breakaway riders on the penultimate climb of the day, the Col de Mont-Louis (21.4 km @ 4.8%), about 24 km from the finish line, when the black clouds opened, and heavy rains pelted the course. The storm was accompanied by fierce thunder and lightning that knocked out the TV transmission, so that broadcasters and viewers were completely in the dark.
The TV images returned 10 km later, just in time to see a downpour of large hailstones force trailing riders to take shelter in a nearby hotel, while Pogačar directed the peloton to do the same. Images from the finish line showed a blanket of hail covering the road. That in itself would have made the 6 km descent from the summit impossible, if not downright suicidal. About 10 minutes later, word came from race organisers that the stage had been cancelled.
“For the security of the riders, stage three has been cancelled due to hail and severe weather,” the statement read. “There will be no winner and no podium ceremony.” Later, the UCI race jury said in a statement, “The decision was taken due to a significant deterioration in weather conditions during the stage, including poor visibility, strong winds and icy road conditions. After consultation with the organisers, the President of the Commissaires Panel decided that the results of the intermediate sprint and the mountain sprint are cancelled.”
It’s tempting to say that this event was one more piece of evidence that climate change is more and more affecting our lives. But a summer afternoon thunderstorm is not unusual for the high-altitude French Pyrenees in late August. On the other hand, the intensity, rapid onset, and size of the hail were exceptional. Let’s hope that this is a one-off for the race and that the remaining 18 stages will come off without problems. The weather forecast for Wednesday’s stage 4 in Andorra calls for sunny, dry weather.
With no times being taken, Pogačar remained race leader, 9 seconds ahead of Wout van Aert, with van Aert’s Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Matthew Brennan in third, at 10 seconds, thanks to his stunning stage 2 victory.
First Grand Tour sprint, first Grand Tour victory
The 21-year-old Brennan showed absolutely no sign of nervousness on his Grand Tour debut and destroyed his rivals in an uphill bunch sprint that suggests that the club of superlative WorldTour sprinters has a new and impressive member.
The 202.1 km on Sunday’s stage 2 from Monaco to Monasque exploded with 1.9 km left to ride when van Aert burst out of the peloton, followed closely by Pogačar. They were caught in the final kilometre as the sprinters’ teams sent their lead-outs to the front. But Brennan left Pau Miquel (Bahrain Victorious), Pogačar and Lidl-Trek’s Mads Pedersen without the ghost of a chance in the sprint, crossing the line about 15 meters ahead of Miquel. Pogačar finished third.
“We started off with the ambition of trying to get Wout in the red jersey today, and we said there’s a nice opportunity to attack in the final, and Wout was really keen to do that,” Brennan said afterwards. “So we had that plan, and I was always going to be in the background to sprint in case that sat up.
“That’s exactly what happened; the guys in front sat up, Christophe [Laporte] did a great job of guiding me all the way through the hecticness of that, and I’m super happy to finish it off. Hopefully it’s not the last one.”
Visma’s tactics thwarted Pogačar, who said he was going for another win. “It was really all-in for the stage win,” he told TNT Sports. “I had to try to be up there and just follow the accelerations.” That forced him to go after van Aert.
“He opened up a nice gap,” the five-time Tour de France winner said. “I really had to put the power down [to catch him]. He looked around, and that’s when I was able to jump onto his wheel. I should have committed fully if I wanted to have a chance of winning. But we also had Matthew Brennan behind us, so I didn’t know what to do.” How often has Pogačar said that?
He then decided to stay on van Aert’s wheel, hoping that he would continue racing to the finish line. But he didn’t. Instead, he sat up, Laporte dragged Brennan to the front and it was no contest after that, as even Pogačar had no chance. “There was already quite a lot of lactate in my legs by then,” he said. “In the end, I’m happy to finish third.”
The stage was a disappointment for Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step), who was part of a four-rider breakaway, which he dropped to take 6 bonus seconds at an intermediate sprint 38 km from the finish line. This put him in the virtual race lead, but his habit of riding at the back of the peloton cost him when the race accelerated at the end, and he was left behind. He finished 80th, 31 seconds adrift of the winner.
“It was a hard final for someone that’s been in the breakaway,” he said. “And even for the positioning, I didn’t have the legs to really move any further forward than I was. It’s a shame, but it was nice to try.”
An emotional and dramatic time trial
Pogačar broke British hearts on Saturday’s opening stage of the race when, riding next to last, he beat Hayter by a mere 0:09 (or 9/100 of a second) on the tricky 9.4 km course through Monaco. Hayter himself had ruined a British storybook ending when he beat Josh Tarling by 4 seconds, after the Netcompany INEOS fast man had taken the lead just nine days after his 19-year-old brother, Finlay, was tragically killed while racing in the Volta a Portugal.
The younger Tarling was riding behind the peloton when a car was mistakenly allowed on the route and struck him head-on. Discussions about route safety have since been carried out, while Josh Tarling has been universally praised for riding in the Vuelta. Pogačar was out on the course when Tarling held the lead, and he said it gave him mixed feelings. “Of course, I was going to give my best, but it was kind of a strange moment,” he said. “I was really rooting for Josh as well.”
It was an impressive performance by Tarling, who also lost his grandfather last week. “Obviously, it’s just been unimaginable what he’s gone through the last week or so,” INEOS team manager Geraint Thomas told TNT Sports. “But to put in a performance like that at the end of the week he’s had is just fantastic, really. It just shows the class of him as an athlete and a person, really. We couldn’t be prouder.”
As for Pogačar, he said that living in Monaco helped him win. “I was on a good day, and I was motivated because I live here and the course passed where I go every day with a bike or walking,” he said. “It was a big confidence boost because I knew every corner really well, so I did not need to take any risks. I was comfortable through the technical parts, and after every corner I felt good. There was no real pacing strategy; it was just like going all out on this 10-minute effort with a lot of corners.”
The result put several of his GC rivals already on the back foot, with Carlos Rodríguez (Netcompany INEOS) 27 seconds behind, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) at 29 seconds, Richard Carapaz (EF Education–EasyPost), 33 seconds adrift, and Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS) at 50 seconds.
Race over?