Five Takeaways from this year's barnstorming Tour de France
Familiar foes, new stars and a surprise trailblazer - this Tour had it all
The New ‘Cannibal’
Tadej Pogačar is unstoppable. So unstoppable that his two Grand Tour victories this year have carried an air of inevitability, a dominance which could have made the races boring. His relentless desire to attack and entertain, even when not in his best interest to do so, has made these would-be processions fun to watch.
The Slovenian’s 12 stage wins in the Tour de France and May’s Giro d'Italia, as well as his two resounding general classification victories are unprecedented in the modern era. Not since 1998 have both races been won in the same year, Marco Pantani achieving the feat that year.
The comparisons with Eddy Merckx are inevitable but dull, sporting fandom’s desire to rank athletes from vastly different eras, in my opinion diminishes the achievements in both contexts. Merckx did not have access to constant lactate testing in training (though he was involved in early trials of the technique), while time trialling has become quite literally alien compared to its more rudimentary past.
The most interesting takeaway about the new ‘Cannibal’ was his bounce back from two years of Jumbo Visma-induced misery, and the reignition of the sport’s greatest ever rivalry.
Vingegaard’s resurrection
Despite his Two previous Tour victories, Jonas Vingegaard’s greatest performance could be his second place at this year’s race. His April crash at Itzulia Basque Country, during which he later admitted he thought he was going to die, contrasted to his gladiatorial stage 11 victory.
Despite his less-than-perfect preparation for the Tour, analysis from Lanterne Rouge estimated his performance on stage 15’s Plateau de Beille climb could have been the second greatest climbing of all time in terms of Watts per Kilogram, with these numbers having been seemingly corroborated by Vingegaard.
Despite the same article calculating Pogačar’s performance on the same climb likely being the greatest of all time, the Dane’s performance, after having punctured a lung only a few months earlier, illustrates this rivalry is far from settled. A fully fit Vingegaard could have won this Tour, which makes his injury all the more frustrating.
Tadej Pogačar may have reached new heights, but once again, Jonas Vingegaard has proven himself to be the only one to be with him in the upper stratosphere of cycling talent.
Remco waits in the wings
Some author bias will come through here, but Remco Evenepoel’s third place performance was by far my favourite to watch at this year’s Tour. A divisive figure among fans, ever since a brilliant two-hour interview discussing his cycling journey, I have been firmly rooting for Remco.
In a sport where media training can stifle the personalities of top riders, Remco’s willingness to speak his mind makes him a joy for journalists, while inevitably annoying some fans with his willingness to be brash. People underestimate his intelligence, leaning into his reputation to play mind games (even if they are not always successful).
My personal predilections aside, Remco proving himself as the closest rival to the ‘Big Two’, is great for the sport. His time trial stage win felt inevitable, though still impressive, while his third and second placed performances in the mountain stages proved that his biggest ‘weakness’ may be not so weak after all.
If the Belgian’s upward trajectory continues, a challenge for the yellow jersey may be in the not too distant future. Additionally, if a time trial heavy edition of the Tour happens soon, he could become the firm favourite.
Bini finally reaches superstardom
Biniam Girmay’s three stage wins and green jersey victory have propelled him to the very top of the sport. Recent evidence had not indicated he would be able to replicate the blazing 2022 form that saw him take a Giro stage and the victory at the prestigious Gent-Wevelgem. The Eritrean, however, saved his very best for this year’s Tour, with three dominant sprint victories.
His performance has major significance beyond his deft and explosive sprint wins: he is the first black-African to win a Tour de France stage. Girmay recently spoke of having posters of Mark Canvendish and Peter Sagan pinned to his wall growing up, but now Girmay could well be that same inspiration for thousands of young cyclists on the continent.
A documentary by ARTE.tv, recently published with English subtitles, is well worth a watch to understand the significance of his performance, as well as the immense potential that has finally been fulfilled.
Sprinting has an exciting future, with the potential for Johnathan Milan and Tim Merlier, both three-time stage winners at this year’s Giro, to be added to sprint battles between Girmay and Jasper Phillipsen.
Newcomers could ignite the race for years to come
Despite three riders winning 12 of the Tour’s 21 stages, there were some exciting breakthroughs this year. During stage one, Frank van der Broek’s work alongside retiring legend Romain Bardet saw the latter gain the first yellow jersey after a phenomenal two-up break away. The young Dutchman will get his own turn for glory in the near future, but his selfless work for Bardet showed a barrels of grit and talent.
During the first half of this year’s Tour there were three universal certainties: death, taxes and Jonas Abrahamsen being in the breakaway. A literal late bloomer, Abrahamsen showed boundless energy to be a constant presence in the group ahead, coming close to a stage victory with a second place on stage two. This relentless motor and fight, if channelled well, makes any future races with him present, an exciting prospect.
Another duracell bunny of a rider was Irishman, Ben Healy. If stage 14 had been a conventional breakaway stage Healy would have been an almost certain victor, but the pace Tadej Pogačar’s team set meant he was swallowed up by the GC group halfway up the final climb to Pla d’Adet. In future Grand Tours he is certain to get more stages on days for the breakaway specialists, to add to his 2023 Giro stage win.