Winnings of the Tour de France on the French stage are becoming increasingly rare, so when they happen, there will be wild celebrations. Former World Road Champion Julian Alaphilippe, who won with a win at Carcassonne, thought he had won, but was later told he had actually finished third after two Belgians.
Before the top Alaphilippe, Tadej Pogacar's Emirates-XRG teammate Tim Wellens scored a solo victory in Phase 15 of the Tour, far ahead of Jonas Vingegaard's teammates.
Raphael Meyer, team manager of Tudor Pro at Alaphilippe, said: “Julian's broadcast didn't work. Given that he crashed early on stage and popped up a dislocated shoulder, the French rider's victory would have been even better.
Julian Alaphilippe's broadcast was damaged in a crash earlier in Phase 15. Photo: LoïcVenance/AFP/Getty Images
It was another tense day for Vingegaard, whose Visma rental bike team showed a questionable strategy. They one day are good, the next bad, and Pogacar and his team are still examples of consistency.
If Vingegaard's team is getting more and more like a house on fire, Pogacar remains an indestructible fortress. Wellens, 34, has become the Vuelta apter champion for Giro d'Italia and España, in the shadow of Carcassonne's castle, who won his first Tour de France stage.
Dane is caught in the same early crash and sees Alaphilippe come down. Somehow, as Vingegaard, Pogacar ranked second, chasing Peloton, with some teammates including Campanaerts being at the forefront, forcing the pace and alienating their team leaders.
Radio intervention was conducted on Pogacar's own team car, the Slovenians who crashed Toulouse in his Phase 11 crash. Finally played the 128km race, with Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz rejoining the main group.
Even the defending champion seemed confused by what was going on around him. “There are three Visma guys, and they're all trying to rest again, and they're chasing Jonas in the back,” Pogacar said. “It's just a strange situation.”
Although Pogacar was finally able to repay the sporting spirit he showed him four days ago, Wellens didn't think about hanging out and performed a decisive solo on Col de Fontbruno with a decisive action of 43 kilometers.
The Belgian champion never looked back and drove into the final kilometre on the rolling road in Languedoc, winning nearly a minute and a half from Campanaerts.
As the tour began, Vingegaard’s wife and personal manager criticized Visma for renting a bicycle team because they did not devote themselves to their husband’s career. Her fear seems to have a good foundation on the road to Carcassonne, and both Campanaerts and Wout Van Aert are clearly fighting for stage victory.
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Five Smurfs encourage riders. It was an important day for Belgium, with the Belgians ranked first and second. Photo: Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP
“I hope he gets the full support of the team, not all kinds of goals,” Trine Vingegaard Hansen said this month. “If you're also going to compete with other riders for the stage, then these resources can't be used for Jonas. You can only respect how Tadej Pogacar's team handles the game. When he's in the game, there's no doubt who the leader is. Everyone knows their role. I think it's super important.”
Meanwhile, Pogacar, though he said on stage that his summer was a little cold due to fluctuations in temperature and the air conditioning took too much time, never had trouble.
Pogacar is becoming Wellens cheerleader as Vingegaard is thinking about his teammates’ motivations. “How is he?” He ran a radio station in Wellens. “What Tim looks like? You should answer: 'He looks great!'”
Monday was a day off, and Tuesday's Stage 16 brought Peloton from Montpelier to the daunting Mont Ventoux, where Pogacar would almost certainly seek to boost his lead with prestigious stage wins.