Tour off for Kämna and Walscheid
For two Germans, on the other hand, the tour is over: Lennard Kämna, who was so aggressive up to now, did not get on his bike anymore because of a cold, for Maximilian Walscheid, on the other hand, the race was over because of a positive corona test. This means that only seven of the originally nine German professional cyclists who started are still there.
The end of the tour by Cofidis teammate Walscheid must have alarmed Geschke, after all, the native of Berlin has often shared a room with Walscheid in the past few days. “I’m not so worried about something like that because it’s not in my hands. We’ll test and hope. There’s a new rule that you can continue driving despite a positive test. But if it doesn’t work at all, that’s how it is,” said Geschke, whom Corona had already thwarted at the Olympics in Tokyo.
Vingegaard repels attacks from Pogacar
Geschke showed great courage again, secured the mountain jersey on the eighth day in a row and even extended his lead in the climbing section. The 36-year-old was the first to cross the 1,517 meter high Port des Lers and also secured two important points on the last climb.
The yellow jersey remains on the shoulders of Vingegaard, who was attacked a number of times by Pogacar on the penultimate climb but was always in control. Both reached the finish just under six minutes later. The showdown comes at the mountain finishes in Peyragudes and Hautacam on Wednesday and Thursday.
But in the duel for yellow, the stars of the scene are increasingly losing their most important trump cards. After Vingegaard lost the two noble helpers Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk on Sunday, Pogacar is now threatened with the loss of his third helper Marc Soler. The Spaniard had to vomit during the stage, visited the tour doctor several times and fought his way up the mountains just before the broom car.
The peloton is increasingly feeling the strain
Heat, corona, illnesses – at the start of the third week of the tour, the peloton is increasingly feeling the strain. Kämna, who has been so aggressive up until now, was absent from the starting line on Tuesday. The 25-year-old from North Germany had been complaining of a small infection for days, and his condition had not improved even on the rest day. The corona test was negative for the 25-year-old and his teammates.
The situation is different with Walscheid, who was the eleventh driver to test positive for Corona after the two Frenchmen Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Mikaël Chérel from the AG2R team had also been affected. “After all the work, this is a big disappointment. I had a serious accident in the spring but the team gave me confidence. I got back in shape, ready and happy to start in Denmark. Unable to reach Paris , is frustrating. But there was no other choice, “wrote Walscheid on Instagram.