Pidcock wins in Alpe d'Huez - Vingegaard confidently defends yellow jersey

By Tom Bachmann and Stefan Tabeling, dpa

Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) was denied a happy ending to his famous comeback at the mythical Alpe d'Huez, the spectacle of the favourites around front runner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) failed to materialise in the blisteringly hot cycling Mecca.

The result of the stage: This is the status in the rankings

On the queen stage of the 109th Tour de France, the young Dane successfully defended his yellow jersey, parried all attacks from defending champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). At the end of the 21 most famous hairpin bends in the world, Briton Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) ahead of South African Louis Meintjes and Froome. Simon Geschke successfully defended his mountain jersey once again.

Pogacar only attacked twice on the legendary 13.8-kilometre final climb, with Vingegaard following almost effortlessly each time. The 25-year-old spared himself a counterattack. Temperatures of up to 37 degrees and the 4650 metres of elevation gain over three difficult climbs of the highest category had taken enough energy. In the overall standings, Vingegaard is 2:22 ahead of Pogacar and 2:26 ahead of Welshman Geraint Thomas. Geschke (Arkea-Samsic) is surprisingly still the leader of the mountain classification.

Froome impresses as part of a breakaway group

It was not only solo winner Pidcock who caused a stir, but above all Froome. More than three years after his serious crash at the Tour of the Dauphiné, the 37-year-old put in his strongest performance since then and impressed as part of a breakaway group. "I still believe I have a great performance in me," Froome emphasised before the Tour. On the French bank holidays, the Brit delivered and finished 2:06 minutes behind Pidcock.

After the biggest defeat of his career to date on the Col du Granon, Pogacar received a counselling visit on Wednesday evening. "I saw my girlfriend, that gave me strength," said the 23-year-old before the start in Briancon, radiating great confidence. "I'm ready to fight. I slept well and will attack."

Next corona setback for Pogacar

However, Pogacar suffered his next coronavirus-related setback in the morning. Matxin Fernandez, sports director of Team UAE, announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Riders George Bennett and Vegard Stake Laengen had previously had to withdraw from the race due to infection. Pogacar's most important helper Rafal Majka, however, was allowed to stay in the race. The Pole benefits from a new regulation that allows an asymptomatic and non-infectious rider to continue the Tour despite a positive test.

After the spectacular stage to the Col du Granon, the most difficult section of the Tour began relatively quietly. Early on there was a group of six riders, which was joined on the Col du Galibier by others such as four-time Tour winner Chris Froome. Despite the bank holidays, there was only one Frenchman among the breakaway riders. Simon Geschke also tried to attack, but was unsuccessful. The Berlin therefore remained without points on the 2642-high pass, the highest point of this year's Tour.

Vingegaard's Jumbo-Visma team controlled the pace in the peloton without any problems. Anyone expecting an early attack from the dethroned leader Tadej Pogacar was disappointed. Given the strength of Jumbo, it would have been a rather daring endeavour by the Slovenian. Instead, Pogacar conserved his strength and stayed hidden in the peloton in his white jersey of the best young pro. Even on the Col de la Croix de Fer, the second of three mountains in the highest category, the favourites remained quiet, so that the big show only began on the way to Alpe d'Huez.

Chance for sprinters on Friday

After the two massively difficult high mountain stages, the riders can look forward to the 13th Tour de France stage recover a little. Over 192.6 kilometres from Le Bourg d'Oisans to Saint-Etienne, there are only two third-category and one second-category climb.

The sprinters have one of the few chances of a mass finish. However, the sprinters' teams would have to work hard for this, as breakaways are likely to hope for a stage win. Just like in 2019, when Belgian Thomas De Gendt triumphed solo in Saint-Etienne.

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