A featherweight could seem like a transition stage, perhaps the last chance for the sprinters to Cahors, before the time trial, or to the Champs-Élysées in Paris in a week. And they were not going to waste it after 11 stages of suffering. But the heat was suffocating. He roasted the peloton for 200 kilometers. The thermometer marked 37 degrees when the sprint reached Carcassonne. The tires stuck to the road. Due to the high temperatures, the Tour management decided to extend the liquid provisioning until the banner of the last ten km.
In the heat of the heat, the Latvian Toms Skujins approached the car for drums and placed eight inside his jersey, on his back. Also, he ordered two more for the bottle cages on his bike. In total, ten when the Trek has seven riders left. But the team was working to break down the breakaway and for Pedersen to opt for victory in the massive arrival. Skujins moved past the entire platoon and handed out drinks to his companions. Then came the 103rd finisher, 4m58s behind the winner, Jasper Philipsen, the Alpecin sprinter. Pedersen could only finish third despite the work of his teammates.
That's what gregarious people are for. To everyone's suffocation, Jonas Vingegaard added a couple more shocks. The leader of the Tour did not win for scares before the third rest day of the French round because he woke up with the news of the abandonment of Primoz Roglic, who had been limping for days. After just under eight km, Kruijswijk and Van Aert crashed and then he and Benoot kissed the asphalt. Vingegaard had to change bikes and got really hot to link up because the sprinter teams didn't stop in pursuit. The worst part was Kruijswijk, who was taken by ambulance with his right arm in a sling.
In a few hours, the leader lost two men to work and control the stages, two of his best teammates in the mountains. Sepp Kuss remains as the best lieutenant for the great ports. From now on there will be six Jumbo against six from the UAE, although Pogacar has more teammates for the hard days: Majka, McNulty and Marc Soler. A change in trend to take into account.
"It has not been the best day," summed up Vingegaard, who arrived with the yellow jersey stained black on the left shoulder. "I fell. I'm fine and I hope Tiejs (Benoot) is fine. They are things that happen. He fell in front of me and I couldn't avoid him. My arm hurts a little because of the scratches, ”he explained.
“We were very strong in the team and they are a great loss”, said Wout Van Aert. For Roglic it is the second consecutive abandonment when he came to the race as a favorite. Last year he didn't start on matchday 9. This time he didn't start on matchday 15, although the Slovenian was sore from the crash in the fifth on the pavé. Perhaps in 2021 he had the excuse that he later had to travel to Tokyo to participate in the road test and the time trial, where he won the gold medal. Now he is already thinking about winning the fourth Vuelta a España. On August 19 he will be in Utrecht to start it with number 1. He will give his Dutch team a lot of extra publicity in the three stages that will be run in the country. Although it would have been good for Vingegaard to control the race and as an intimidating effect.
In the sprint, Van Aert was second again, as in the first three stages of the Tour. This time he defeated Philipsen, Van der Poel's partner. Without the crack, very tired after doing the entire Giro, Alpecin saves the Tour with this victory.
