TDF 2020, Stage 4 Sisteron—Orcieres-Merlette 160.5 km
Jumbo-Visma dominate first summit finish. Roglic wins the stage and moves up to third on GC, 11 seconds behind Alaphilippe
It was a beautiful stage of the Tour, dear Readers, but allow me to cut to the chase: it was all about the final climb today, as we all knew it would be when the route was announced back in October. At the end of the stage was a summit finish up the Category 1 Orcieres-Merlette climb. Yes, dear Readers, you are right, this is a famous climb. It was here in 1971 that the volatile Spaniard Luis Ocana demolished Eddy Merckx, the Cannibal, the Greatest of All-Time. In 1971, Belgian Eddy Merckx was already cycling royalty having won the Tour in 1969 and 1970 in dominate fashion on both outings, surely not even a freight train could stop him…for Merckx was the freight train. And yet here came a challenger to Merckx, while he was certainly still at the peak of his powers and even already in Yellow amid this 1971 Tour. Ocana had not the confidence of Merckx, insecurity was in his temperament from an early age and was reinforced in his career by being so often the bridesmaid but never the bride on podiums before. But in 1971 on the road to Orcieres-Merlette, Ocana summoned such mighty strength it seemed as if one of the Olympians or Asgardians had aided him that day. Had Zeus zapped him with a thunderbolt giving him a rush of super strength? Had Mercury lent him his winged-sandals so that he might fly up the mountains? Did Thor act as Ocana’s rearguard and bring Mjolnir down upon the Cannibal’s head? Ocana soloed away on the stage and beat second place by six minutes, he put a full nine minutes into Eddy Merckx. Marc Madiot, now the team principal of Groupama-FDJ, remembers the stage well. He said it was the race of the century, the greatest victory in the pantheon of cycling, never before had anyone beaten Eddy like that. He had an almost 10-minute lead over Merckx on GC by the end of that day. And when he donned the beautiful maillot jaune, was the cycling world witnessing a changing of the guard?
Upon watching the stage finish today, I ask myself and you, dear Readers, the same question. Certainly, a new generation is rising in cycling, but is there really a changing of the guard taking place in the peloton as well? Is there a new sheriff, or a whole new team of Marshalls in town? Unlike 1971 where individuals rode like Greek and Trojan heroes whose duels and clashes shook the earth, in these days the individual heroes still exist but they are supported by legendary fighting units: think of King Leonidas with his 300 Spartans, or the Byzantine Emperor’s Varangian Guard. For nigh on a decade now, Team Sky and their further Ineos iteration have dominated the Tour de France and all other stage races as well for that matter. We have all grown accustomed to seeing them stranglehold the peloton up the Pyrenean and Alpine climbs, riding at a tempo where no rider could sustain an attack; valiant men would still try, but they would wilt and be brought back into the fold quickly by Sky’s relentless pace to soon be chewed up and spit out the back of the group where they would lose minutes on the day for their attempt. It was pure folly to attack them. Yes, there were years where they were not at the top of their game, most notably last year when they did not have an answer to the goofy antics and heroics of our brave Musketeer, but even then in the final days they stamped down their authority and finished 1st and 2nd overall on GC. With such a system, the team has produced four separate individual Tour winners (Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, and Egan Bernal), seven Tour titles, two Vuelta a Espana victories, and one Giro d’Italia triumph as well. And they seemed to have warmed to the idea of being the dominant overlords early on when they famously nicknamed their new cutting edge, 22nd Century team bus the Death Star.
But that was the past, this is the present, and in this sport you are only as good as your last race. Has a new power arisen, to finally challenge their dominance? It certainly seems like it after the events of today. If you have read my Tour Preview from a few days ago, you know who this challenger is. Surely, Ineos has never had their hands as full as they do with this Jumbo-Visma team. After multiple Category 3 climb hors d’oeuvres, the peloton reached the bottom of Orcieres Merlette; the sprinters and pretenders had been shelled, it was time for the contenders to rise to the top. Julian Alaphilippe’s Quickstep team did good work reeling in the final stranglers of the breakaway still out front. Riders from UAE Team Emirates and Arkea-Samsaic did good turns to ratchet up the pace as well. The pace on the front rose and rose, and riders did not drop out of the back in ones and twos, but in threes and fives. After one admirable attack from Pierre Rolland (B&B Vital Concept) was reeled in by Mikel Nieve (Michelton-Scott), only the greatest riders were left. Finally, a few more kilometers later, Nieve, low-key one of the greatest domestiques of all time, swung off the front: job done, he had emptied the tank for teammates Adam Yates and Estaban Chaves (both Michelton-Scott). And then the Jumbo-Visma clinic began.
Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) took up the pacing, yes the winner of the sprint in Milan-Sanremo was not only still here, but looking strong on the very front. Look at this cyclocrosser, here on a Category 1 climb of the Tour de France ratcheting up the pace to untenable levels for all save the finest climbers in the world. What a Swiss Army Knife this man is, I dare say the most versatile rider in the peloton. In one long line he strung them all out: Van Aert, Kwaitkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), Bernal, Alaphilippe, Higuita (EF), Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Quintana (Arkea-Samsaic), and many more scrap to hold the wheels behind. Wout rode at such a ferocious tempo, why he looked like an eager sled dog strapped up with a team of bunnies. No, no, that is too much of an exaggeration, dear Readers, some behind still looked very strong as I am about to tell…but I tell you: if Egan Bernal was not on the rivet, he was close to it! Bernal was not up for such a pace today, but others were. Our Musketeer, Alaphilippe, was fidgeting in the finale a usual, tightening up his shoes for the sprint at the top of this bestial climb. And Wout’s teammates Sepp Kuss and Primoz Roglic looked cool as cucumbers, dialed in for such a sprint as well. Finally, with only 1.5 km remaining, Van Aert swung off the front, his tortuous turn was over. Ineos’ Kwaitkowski was next in line, would he sustain the relentless pace? No. And within the blink of an eye, Sepp Kuss notched up the pace even harder than Van Aert, his teammate; all in the service of Roglic. Yes, it has become clear, Kuss shall be Roglic’s final right hand man this Tour, as he was at the Vuelta last year. Sepp Kuss, born in the mountains of Colorado, is poised to be the top domestique of this Tour, and I think his chief competition will come from in-house, Van Aert. With Sepp on the front, it was only the top contenders left, those in with a shout for Paris. The way they swung around the hairpins and charged straight up each daunting slope, it looked as if they were on rails. With 500 m to go, a surprise attack came from Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), my, my, has this man been flying at a new level since lockdown. Martin’s attack was strong and impressive, but still too many of the favorites matched him. Superman Lopez, Quintana, and Alaphilippe were all keeping up well, but it was the Slovenians who dropped the hammer. With 200 m to go, Primoz Roglic, the champion of Slovenia and captain of Jumbo-Visma, launched his sprint on the final drag up to the line to win the stage. Alahilippe, the Musketeer, couldn’t even match him this day, only managing 5th. Quintana snuck in for 4th. Martin still finished in an impressive 3rd despite is big attack too early. But it was the other Slovenian, Tadej Pogacar (UAE), almost a decade Roglic’s junior, who finished 2nd. A Slovenian one-two, Rog and Pog, who five years ago could have predicted the tiny country to produce not only one, but two cycling stars of such quality? Meanwhile, Bernal finished an almost anonymous 7th on the day, receiving the same time as the final bunch.
So was today the beginning of a formal changing of the guard? Today the breakneck death-march pace was set by Jumbo-Visma, Ineos had to strap in for the ride just like all the other teams have had to do for years as they were on the front. And of course, Jumbo-Visma finished off the job in dominating style, Roglic with the win; with the time bonus he now has a 10-second lead on Bernal and most of the other favorites. Pogacar and Martin receive six and four seconds, respectively; and Alaphilippe narrowly maintains his GC lead to keep Yellow. Surely, Jumbo-Visma is in the driver’s seat, perhaps it is even their Tour to lose.
And yet, perhaps that is speaking too soon. Jumbo-Visma is certainly in the driver’s seat as Luis Ocana was in 1971. But dear Readers, the memories of 1971 do not end happily for Ocana. Merckx was surely impressed by Ocana’s performance that the Tour pays homage to today; he reportedly said: “Today, Ocana tamed us like El Cordobes in the bullring tames his bulls.” Surely, Merckx knew he was not going to beat Ocana climbing that Tour, and so, as Bradley Wiggins details in his book Icons, Merckx let the temperamental Ocana beat himself. A few days later, when the race reached the Pyrenees a thunderstorm struck while they were high in the passes. Merckx attacked down the wet roads of the Col de Mente descent; it was incredibly dangerous, many crashed including Merckx himself. But the biggest casualty of the day was Luis Ocana who crashed right near Merckx. His screams of pain are captured in one of cycling’s most memorable and heartbreaking photographs, look it up dear Readers (Google Images: “Luis ocana col de mente”). Look at his face, surely he is physically in distress, but the emotional trauma must be even worse: he knew by then he had lost the Tour de France. In 1971, there was no changing of the guard, the Cannibal won his third Tour while that day in the rain Ocana was airlifted to the hospital to treat his injuries.
So here we are in 2020, dear Readers. This Jumbo-Visma team seems to have the right stuff to topple the Ineos giant, but they haven’t yet. What will happen? Bernal perhaps showed weakness and was relatively isolated, but he still finished with the leaders. Cast your minds back to the Tour last year where Bernal lost significant time in the Pau Time-Trial as well and many thought his dreams of Yellow were crushed that day and he would need to work for Geraint Thomas. It is Stage 4 of 21, surely it is too early to say the guard has changed…although maybe we will look back and say it has. But before we end, let’s throw one more spanner into the mix. Jumbo-Visma might walk away with this Tour, but who will be in Yellow in Paris? Primoz Roglic looked like the best rider in the world today, but quietly in 11th place with the leaders was Jumbo teammate Tom Dumoulin. He is a man of class, but he is also a champion. Surely, if his chances are dashed then he will sacrifice himself for Roglic each day, but his hopes and dreams and the fire in his heart are well-kindled at the moment. Dumoulin is the winner of the 2017 Giro, and runner-up in both the 2018 Giro and Tour; surely such a man wants and is owed his shot at Yellow if he is still in the hunt. And as I said in the Preview, Roglic has come out swinging as he did in the Dauphine and the warm-up races before that, and as he did at the Giro and its lead up races last year. But Roglic did not win the Giro. Meanwhile Dumoulin has quietly been building form, finishing better every race, every stage; and he has been able to ride carefree and easy while all the cameras and microphones are on the flashy Slovenian champ. Will struggles arise within the team? Can the two leaders maintain cohesion for the whole three weeks if both are in winning position? Then of course, besides the Clash of Titans Jumbo must wage with Ineos, there is still the pesky business of controlling a certain Musketeer wearing a yellow jersey…a job last year that required “all hands on deck” for the Ineos team. Jumbo-Visma and the Tour are off to a great start, but this is the Tour de France, we must not get carried away on Stage 4 no matter how good Van Aert, Kuss, and Roglic looked. There are many more chapters yet to be written, let us hope the plot thickens with many appropriate twists and turns still to come.
Cycling Odysseys 