tour reporter
Jumbo-Visma experiences a black day on the 5th stage of the Tour de France. All dreams of victory for Primoz Roglic have been shattered on the cobblestones.
Almost three quarters of an hour was after the end of the 5th stage Tour de France passed as Primoz Roglic climbed out of his team’s Jumbo-Visma team bus to report on his day. But one look at his face was enough to realize that this day had not only cost him time.
The bloodshot eyes were deep in their sockets, staring into space. “I’ve had better days”, said Roglic. That was a gross trivialization: The Slovenian has probably only experienced a few worse days on the bike than this Wednesday, in which the Tour de France cycled 19.4 kilometers of dangerous cobblestones in northern France on the way from Lille to Arenberg.
Roglic resets his shoulder himself
Roglic, who would so much like to cycle to Paris in the yellow jersey and was considered the first challenger to two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar, fell on the way and dislocated his shoulder, which he then brought back into the correct position himself, as he reported.
Primoz Roglic (r) and Tiesj Benoot from Team Jumbo-Visma
The two minutes and eight seconds that Roglic lost to Pogacar as a result should not cause the Jumbo-Visma team and therefore him the greatest concern. Roglic was asked at the finish in Arenberg whether he had already lost the tour. “I don’t think so far”was the reply. “I am now busy processing the consequences of the fall.”
Basic considerations at Jumbo-Visma
However, there is little time to recover from injuries. On the 6th stage of Binche after Longwy on Thursday (July 7th, 2022) the classification riders will not be particularly challenged, but on Friday they will be waiting for the ascent to the Super Planche des Belles Filles the first mountain finish of this year’s tour.
In the case of Jumbo-Visma, they will have to make very fundamental considerations by then. For example, the question of whether Roglic will remain part of the double leadership, or whether the Dane Jonas Vingegaard should now assume the sole role of captain. Nobody in Arenberg wanted to commit themselves. But Roglic’s health is likely to play a crucial role.
The Dutch team experienced one on the way over the pavés but not only because of Roglic’s fall “fucking day”like it Wout van Aert summarized. The Belgian did defend his yellow jersey, but that was cold consolation.
harm for Vingegaard kept limited
The team had appointed four classic specialists to their tour squad to take on the dual leadership of Roglic and Vingegaard get through the day safely and put pressure on Pogacar. But once the kicked-up dust settled over the eleven cobblestone sectors, the best the team could say was that it at least mitigated the damage Vingegaard kept within limits.
The fact that last year’s second-placed team lost only 13 seconds to Pogacar, who had come seventh to the finish unscathed, was only thanks to a concentrated effort that the team managed to pull off after what had been a chaotic performance up to that point.
Above all Wout van Aertwho took a long time to focus on the race again after a fall, did a valuable job, from the minute that Vingegaard was behind Pogacar in between, to reduce to 13 seconds at the finish. “After the fall, I wasn’t mentally able to help the boys at first”confessed van Aert. “It wasn’t until the end that I felt normal again.”
Chaotic wheel change
Vingegaard had fallen behind due to a defect, then initially had his team-mate’s bike Nathan Van Hooydonck taken over, which was obviously too big for him and on which he could hardly drive.
It took a while due to communication issues within the team and some back and forth Vingegaard finally back on the right bike. They will also have to talk about that at Jumbo-Visma. “I had a problem with the chain, maybe I should have just pulled it out myself”the Dane later said. “But I was just too stressed at that moment.”
Pogacar in the flow
Tadej Pogacar, on the other hand, had no stress at all, who had stayed out of all difficulties. And that despite the fact that the Slovenian was already isolated from his team on the first piece of pavement. “I used to be afraid of all the things that didn’t happen to me today”, explained Pogacar. His team brought him safely to the first sector. “And from there it was just about following the flow.”
Pogacar once again demonstrated its extra class on every terrain. In the finale, he even pulled away from the field with the other class drivers, together with the classics specialist Jasper Stuyven, in order to playfully gain a few more seconds over the competition. His conclusion was then completely different from that of Jumbo Visma: “It was a good day for us.”