TDF 2020, Stage 8 Cazeres-Sur-Garonne – Loudenvielle 141 km
Nan Peters wins from the break. GC battle on the Peyresourde sees Pogacar take back time while Pinot, Alaphilippe lose big.
DENVER, CO – A barn-burner first stage in the Pyrenees today, dear Readers. We were treated to two races for the price of one. Frenchman Nans Peters (AG2R) took a fine stage victory from a breakaway of 13 men that at one point had over 14 minutes on the peloton. Peters and Ilnur Zakarin (CCC) rode away from their companions over the top of the Port de Bales where Peters then broke away on the descent, held off the stronger climbing Zakarin all the way up the Peyresourde, and then lengthened his lead on the descent into the finish in Lourdenvielle. A good win for the Tour debutant, a day this Frenchman will remember for the rest of his life. Last year a Giro stage winner in his debut there, dear Readers, this 26 year-old Nans Peters is one to keep an eye on. But alas! I must shortchange him, because the second race behind was much more thrilling and had significant GC implications.
At the Tour, dear Readers, the camera men or women on the motorbikes are highly skilled and daring individuals. To do such a job, you are required for the majority of the race to stand up behind the motorcycle driver to get the shot of the riders. If the riders are behind, they must turn their body around to face the riders in order to capture the action. How they stand twisted around while motoring along even for short stretches I cannot comprehend, and how they stand in anyway on many sections of the descents makes my palms sweat. Now that I mention it, I would very much like to see a Behind the Scenes feature or hear an interview with one of these brave souls that work the cameras. Anyways, all of this is preamble to familiarize you, dear Readers, with the camera situation on the road. Because now I speak of what I find to be the most iconic camera view that finally comes out for the first time every year on the first high mountain stage: I call it the “Carnage Cam.”
Today the peloton had to ride three massive and famous mountain climbs: the Col de Mente (Category 1), the Port de Bales (Beyond Categorization), and the Col de Peyresourde (Category 1). To do three such climbs after seven days of hard racing is not easy. Throughout the stage, the peloton is worn down to a select group of favorites by the top of the third climb. First the wounded and sprinters will be dropped, then the heavy classics men, then tired domestiques, then the pretender contentders, and over top of the last climb will be an elite group of favorites who can legitimately hope to win the Tour de France. It is on these first big mountain stages that the “Carnage Cam” comes into its own. This is the camera bike that sits at the back of the peloton and captures every dropped rider. It shows their tired legs “pedaling squares,” their heaving bodies wrestling with their bikes, and their faces etched in pain or sedated with weariness. And as the action on front heats up deeper into the stage, it becomes tricky for the Carnage Cam to catch every rider going out the back, but it becomes thrilling and surprising to see a big name pop earlier than expected. Is this my favorite camera view, dear Readers? I do not think so, but for me it is inspiring to see the riders absolutely empty the tank for a team leader or give it their all in pursuit of their goal, and in my humble opinion the Carnage Cam is one of the top 3 most quintessential elements of a Tour mountain stage. So dear Readers, if you will allow, I would like to tell you about the early action of the stage from this classic perspective.
When the breakaway leaders were 40 km from the line, the peloton was a further 11 minutes behind them, probably 45-50 km from the finish themselves. By this point the Carnage Cam had already begun its day on the Col de Mente—famous for the already discussed Ocana crash in the 1971 Tour—capturing the wounded and the sprinters falling off the back and forming their grupettos. Those are relatively inconsequential and not too much fun, because most strategically “pack it in” before they have pushed their limits so that they can ride to the finish at a controlled pace where they know they can make the time cut. But at this point, about 45 km from the finish, in the middle of the Port de Bales—most famous for the Schleck-Contador Chaingate a decade ago—the Carnage Cam caught its first big fish.
Alas! It was Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), can anyone say they are too surprised at this point? That is a rhetorical question, dear Readers, because no one can. Over the years with Thibaut Pinot we have all come to hope for the best, but are always prepared for the worst. Alas! It seems he simply cannot string together top form for a 21-day Grand Tour. He was surrounded by three or four teammates who attempted to pace him back up, but he just didn’t have the legs today. He would lose 7 minutes to the other favorites to the top of Port de Bales, and the Peyresourde would be far worse. What was wrong with him? In classic Pinot fashion, we have no idea, he said he felt good at the starting line. Well, when it was clear that he had raised the white flag, his teammates stayed with their leader and offered comforting words and pats on the back. They told him to chin up, hold his head high, probably already they were trying to get him to refocus his attention on stage hunting deeper into the race. O! Thibaut, when you dropped out of the Tour last year, it was possibly the most heartbreaking moment I’d ever seen in the sport. I wanted you to overcome such a moment this year, as did we all. But alas! longer we all shall have to wait. And the Tour goes on.
Jumbo-Visma when straight to the front to ratchet up the pace when they heard of the ailing Pinot, to finish off one who they thought would have been a formidable GC threat. One of the first casualties of their pace was Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) who had multiple crashes on Stage 1. Dear Readers, I have a theory that Ineos are strategically saving him. He needs the wounds to recover as best they can, and Ineos are hoping if he takes some “easy/off” days in the early mountain stages, he can come good for Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), their team leader, in the final week. The same goes for Jumbo-Visma’s Sepp Kuss who dropped at this point. Yes, dear Readers, I think this was far too early for Sepp to drop, but since Jumbo had so many weapons to assist Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), I think they were confident in allowing Sepp to purposely drop in order to keep him fresh for tomorrow or deeper into the race. Meanwhile Michal Kwaitkowski (INEOS Grenadiers) dropped: that one really was tank emptied. He had stayed with Bernal as long as he could, but under the relentless pace of Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) on the front, his job was done for the day. In the gray mists at the top of the Port de Bales, Wout surged towards the top of the climb just to sting the riders’ legs a little bit more. From the Carnage Cam, was Sergio Higuita (EF), in the Colombian champion’s jersey, going to crack? No, he had just enough energy to make it over the top with the peloton. He would have the descent to recover before the final climb of the day, the Col de Peyresourde.
The Col de Peyresourde, is another storied climb on the Tour. It could be talked about at length, but let us keep things simple and contemporary, dear Readers. The side the riders were climbing was the side Chris Froome (then Team Sky) solo descended down in 2016 to take the thrilling stage victory into Bagneres-de-Luchon; the day he pedaled while seated on the top tube and had “nuts of steel” according to some sources. The peloton, still led by Wout Van Aert, came to the bottom of the descent and began the climb up the Peyresourde. Right at the start, as could have been predicted at the summit of the Port de Bales, the lights went out for Wout Van Aert. Yes, dear Readers, these are the beautiful moments the Carnage Cam captures. Wout had given his team everything, he was almost at a standstill, almost balancing in a track-stand because he was too tired to go on. While he worked for Roglic up the last climb and down the descent, the thought of how tired he would be had not crossed his mind; he had focused only on the objectives of the team; no personal thoughts, even about how he’d possibly finish the stage ever crossed his mind. As he rode the remainder of the stage, it probably was not an easy ride, but perhaps it did feel like a walk in the park because he knew he had done his team duties so well. Yes, this is the beauty the Carnage Cam can show in the little instant it can spare before it swivels back to capture the action in the peloton.
And then the Carnage Cam went into overdrive, as it always does to kick off the finale. Jumbo-Visma on the front, with George Bennett and Tom Dumoulin, figured it was time to shed the pretenders. The first headline casualty: Dani Martinez (EF), the Colombian who had just won the Dauphine a few weeks before, I had thought he would hang on longer. Out the back went Jonathon Castroviejo (INEOS Grenadiers), he could stay with Bernal no longer, his job was done for the day. As if in a man-to-man match, Jumbo-Visma’s George Bennett peeled off the front as well, his tank empty, job done. What made him finally end his turn? Our Musketeer, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck—Quickstep), had attacked off the front. Alaphilippe’s attack shelled out the Movistar veteran Alejandro Valverde, four decades old and he still can still mix it up with these young bucks. But then, dear Readers, the Carnage Cam captured a casualty I am O! so sad about. It seems he was acting on ancient and audacious advice: “When you are tired, attack! Because perhaps the others are as tired as you.” Alas! The others were not as tired, they had quickly neutralized our Musketeer’s attack, and that was Alaphlippe’s last gamble. Dumoulin had caught him and raised the pace and Alaphilippe went out the back. Alaphilippe would finish 12 minutes behind these GC leaders, his bid for Yellow is now surely over. Of course, I have more thoughts about one of my—sorry, our—favorite riders, but I save them for another time because the action was by no means over.
The Carnage Cam had had its day, it had done its job. All the pretenders were now shelled out the back and it was time for the possible champions of this Tour to duel it out. Such battles in the mountains happen fast and the scenarios and groups on the road are constantly changing. One attacks, another drops. Two bridge across to a leader while a third one hangs on by a fingernail. Out of seemingly nowhere, someone rejoins the group, while the seemingly weakest puts in a strong attack. Let us experiment dear Readers, let me try to exemplify the chaos of the day. No fluffy language or superfluous sentences that make the word count soar, I shall try to be economical and give you my viewing experience. The following is based strictly off my notes I frantically typed to the live broadcast while the iPhone brutally autocorrected everything, not just the many foreign names.
“Dumoulin on the front. Leading the group, Dumoulin, Pogacar, G[uillaume] Martin [of Cofidis]. [Adam] Yates [of Mitchelton-Scott, wearing the maillot jaune] losing the wheel. [Tadej] Pogacar [of UAE] attacks, big attack…I was right to be excited when he lost time yesterday, I hoped he would make it up immediately!! Roglic bridges. Nairo [Quintana of Arkea-Samsaic] almost there. Buchanan cracks [àEmmanuel Buchmann of Bora-Hansgrohe, 4th at the Tour last year, cracks]. Pogacar, Roglic, and Nairo in a good group. Bernal chasing. Yates back with Bernal group. Egan rowing [ à dragging] everyone back. Pogacar attacks again. Egan with Superman [Lopez of Astana], [Rigoberto] Uran [of EF], [Mikel] Landa [of Bahrain-McLaren], [and] G Martin. [Romain] Bardet [of AG2R] in trouble. Yates and Dumoulin dome [àdone]. Uran trying to bridge to Pog[acar], Rog[lic] group, he made it; Landa following, then Superman, Egan, and Martin. The favorites slow and stare each other down. Yates trying to limit losses riding at his tempo. Yates coming back to group, [Richard] Carapaz [of Ineos] coming back with a group with [Richie] Porte [Trek-Segafredo]? Pogacar attacks again, looks the strongest. Carapaz tried to bridge. Carapaz on the front of other favs group. Dumoulin riding his own pace behind the group. Carnage cam on Dumoulin, 20-30 [seconds] behind favs? Porte and Landa try to bridge to Pog, Carapaz still paces group of favs behind. Pog still alone. Car[apaz] still on front group. Who’s the Movistar guy, Soler or Mas? Pog, Landa, and Porte up the road, the ones that lost time in Xwinds [crosswinds]. G Martin attacks, no one responds! Pog 1k to the top! Crowds wild. With masks. Can’t stay away in the Pyrenees. ~40 seconds ahead of Yates group? Behind, Yates in trouble with #94 on Movistar. Martin ahead with Nairo, Roglic, Superman, Uran…Bernal and Bardet closing, Yates behind and distanced. No, Yates catching back on. 94 is [Enric] Mas. Pog over the top. Nairo attacks, Rog on him. But distancing others. They go over the top, Rog leads into descent. Quintana, Rog, Porte, Landa [together]. Rog and Quintana distancing Landa and Porte….[notes on Peters’ win happening at the same time]…Yates recovered. Rog and Nairo caught on descent by other fav[orite]s Egan and Superman and Landa and Martin. Pog off descent still solo, powering away. What a rider…Bardet attacks and Yates trying to bridge from the favorites. Bardet looking for time. Yates chasing Landa and Superman on him. Pog 1k to go. Yates chasing Bardet, leading all the favs. Pog cross[es] the line 6:00 behind Peters. Bardet alone. Martin and Yates leading group of favs behind. Bardet 6:38. Others [Lopez, Yates, Bernal, Landa, Martin, Roglic, Quintana, Uran, Porte] 6:40. Other group Mas, Carapaz, Mollema, Rolland, and Bahrain [Damiano Caruso] 40 seconds behind Yellow. Buchmann and [Estaban] Chaves [of Mitchelton-Scott] 1:00 down on Yellow. Dumoulin 2:07 down on Yellow. Pog set a record [time] up the Peyresourde.”
And though it might not have been prettiest prose, that, dear Readers, is a proper mountain stage finale. Chaotic, no? Could you keep up with all of it? I do not think I could, names started popping up of people I thought dropped. Where did Porte come from, and then he attacked? How many times did Yates yo-yo off the back? How’d Bardet get to the front at the bottom of the descent? And I was pleased I managed to figure out #94 was Enric Mas.
Some quick takeaways to sum up that “alphabet soup” of names listed in the finale. Pogacar was clearly the man of the match; he retook 40 seconds on his main rivals, half of what he lost yesterday in the crosswinds. He is on fine form; he is a contender for Yellow. Do not doubt this debutant. After him, you would have to say Primoz Roglic, Nairo Quintana, and Guillaume Martin looked the strongest. Notably, Egan Bernal, the defending champion, did not look on par with them, but he slyly managed to save his race and finish with the favorites. It is a sign of mature racer when their head can substitute in for their legs, bravo to this 23 year-old. Bardet must have caught the main group of favorites on the descent—he is known to be a dare-devil descender—and then attacked across the rolling last 2 km to pip a few more seconds. Yates, in Yellow, had the duty to chase him down, because Bardet was only 13 seconds behind at the start of the day; everyone else in the group hitched a ride. Finally, Tom Dumoulin was clearly working for Roglic today and finished over two minutes behind Yates’ Yellow Jersey group. This would seem to mean Roglic is the undisputed leader. Dumoulin’s only chance to win now is if he launches a long-range attack and the better placed riders stare each other down and do not respond; this is how Carapaz won the Giro last year for Movistar while his team leader, Landa, had been better placed on GC. This is an unlikely scenario, but I openly tell you, dear Readers, because someday I want to see Tom Dumoulin’s name on the long list of Tour de France champions.
Well, dear Readers, another eventful day in the Tour de France. I am almost out of energy, I can only manage a few sentences more. How many of the riders, after 8 days, are already on their hands and knees? I know I am, trying to watch and cover this race. Monday’s rest day will be most welcomed, but we have one more day of this tomorrow. It is our second day in the Pyrenees with a similar mountain stage, but with more numerous and shorter climbs. Perhaps it will be even harder to maintain control. Will Pogacar attack again or will a new hero detonate the race?
Cycling Odysseys 