The route book said the Tour started in Florence. It wasn’t a lie. But it was just as true that the real Tour, the great duel, the first round between the two champions, started at the Arco del Meloncello, which marks the beginning of the climb to the Basilica of the Madonna of San Luca. On the climb around Bologna, where the Giro dell’Emilia is decided every year, there was the starting signal of the face-off of this cycling decade. The tiebreaker Tour is now underway. It’s official. Pogacar was expected and if Tadej has something, it’s that he’s not one of those who leave the audience tense. There where the Slovenian was written off, the contender, perhaps the favorite, made his first attack on the explosive ramp of San Luca. And on his wheel, like a spring, like a shadow, Vingegaard, the champion, is gone, a mystery that is becoming clearer. Jonas is back.
Initially no one could follow them. Then, in the last stage, after descending, again through the streets of Bologna, Evenepoel, the debutant and Carapaz, who fell last year and went home in the first stage, caught up with them. But before that, they were left alone again. Almost as usual. Classic scene. Faithful to their roles.
there is war
Where it was written and expected, the favorite candidate appears and the fallen champion confirms that he is back
“It was impossible to chase the two monsters,” said Giulio Ciccone, Lidl’s strong man at the finish line, who had to settle for watching them from a distance in the same group as Primoz Roglic, negative surprise because the port San Luca, small and hard, masters it by winning the Giro dell’Emilia three times.
It is the umpteenth episode of this successful series that keeps the fans hooked, the first of this new season, the fourth in which the protagonists face each other directly. Seeing them side by side brought madness to the tifosi who were cheering them on the climb. In San Luca the tour of restraint, rationing and control of efforts ended. And there the race revealed itself, without concessions, without hiding.
Girmay and Carapaz rule the Tour for the first time
Last year he couldn’t
The last time the UAE team leader stood on the podium as a leader was on July 12, 2022
Especially because Pogacar wears the yellow jersey with his attack, which never happened last year. The last time he stood on the podium as leader was on July 12, 2022. “It’s the result of trying it. It hasn’t really been a yellow jersey,” admits Joxian Matxin, manager of his team, UAE. But the jersey goes to him even if he doesn’t want it. Because he finds the weakness of Roglic and Carlos Rodriguez and decides to take advantage of it, which would be fatal for Bardet, for whom his so expensive jersey lasts only 24 hours.
But that was not the goal. In fact, when a breakaway forms on the same Cesenatico beach, consisting of ten units, including the two Arcias, the Almerían Cristian Rodríguez and Kevin Vauquelin, the eventual winner, Pogacar does the math. Perhaps he could gain a dozen seconds, and at most, he would add another partial victory to the eleven that already appear on his record. But he decided that it was not worth exhausting his team by driving almost 200 kilometers on an almost flat path for that loot. You have to think that the Tour is very long, it only takes two stages. An argument that gains more weight because there is already a high mountain stage with the Galibier on Tuesday to mark the real differences.
balance
Evenepoel and Carapaz chased him steadily into the last but Roglic, Carlos Rodriguez and Enric Mas found themselves 21 seconds behind
Then they let go, they don’t worry. And they don’t even speed up on the first of the two passes through San Luca. In that rise it is Visma who takes over. Benoot climbs at a comfortable pace for his leader Vingegaard, who is looking towards first place, indicating that he is feeling good. And you can see everyone’s ears perk up when Pogacar stands up and accelerates on the edge. Evenepoel follows him. The Dane also gets on the wheel. But it’s a false alarm. Or a hoax, one of those jokes he loves. Because the Slovenian does not go from leading the group, with all the peace of mind in the world, to taking two bottles and a gel.
On the second pass of San Luca the small games end. The serious attack comes. And they are gone. Pogacar makes two changes of pace. And Vingegaard does not lose a single metre. Not even a metre? Not even half a wheel. Not even an inch. And once they have the crown, they look at each other, they see each other alone and they understand each other. They are ambitious, they relieve each other, they take risks along the way, they stimulate each other. Today we are mates, tomorrow we will see. It is the great duel. It lasts three weeks. Fasten your seat belts.
This was Vingegaard’s time trial to get him in great shape for the Tour
