The favorites said that Itzulia was a rare one, that there had not been any summit finish in seven days, that it would be difficult to make a difference before the last stage, yes, with three First class ports. But you should never trust, because the Basque Country has always been a propitious ground for ambushes. And three unclassified slopes, three non-scoring walls in the last 10 kilometers, three short and explosive climbs, were enough for Jonas Vingegaard to take command of the race.
The Dane appeared like a phoenix on the final ramp, surrounded by Txakoli vineyards, to take the stage and the lead. He is the third different leader in three rounds. But he was seen wanting to teach the winning version of him again. Because he arrived in the Basque Country beaten in his pride after being tortured and shaken by his rival, Pogacar, on the way to Nice, a month ago.
Without so much pressure and without the yoke of the show that the Slovenian seeks and always gives -the last exhibition on cobblestones in Flanders-, Vingegaard returned to being himself. He was able to deploy his cycling to perfection, more of a team, more controlling and more pragmatic than his opponent's.
He did not pedal too much. He didn't expend an ounce of extra strength. He didn't go off plan or blow smoke out of his watt meter. He let Landa, Chaves, Mollema, Knox or Juanpe López have their moments of brilliance. He stayed with his Jumbo, Oomen and Valter, who kept pace with him, up the last steep ramp. There he stood up and opened a gap while the rest were trapped by a ruckus of elbows, shoves, feet to the ground and they fought among themselves to find a gap to follow in his wake.
Great cyclists must have a mentality of steel. The champion of the last Tour lives in a bubble where he isolates himself. Great joys are not allowed. He hit his chest three times with his fist, kissed his fingers, and without letting go of the handlebars with his left hand, raised his right arm as he crossed the finish line. Little more. “We are here to try to win. This is one of my favorite races. We will go day by day. I hope to hold on to the leader's jersey. We will be ready to fight ”, said Vingegaard, who almost always speaks in the plural, and that he is doing well in Spain, where he has already won O Gran Camiño.
We leave the Txakoli thing for another day. Immediately he got off the bike and got on the roller. After five minutes, having caught his breath, he was already looking for a cell phone to dial and talk to Trine, his partner, the epicenter of his world. He doesn't stray even half an inch from his plan.
