Pello Bilbao, stage winner, enters the final stretch with many options to appear in the image of the Champs Elysees
“Thinking of third place on the podium is still crazy,” said Bilbao, 2’05” behind Adam Yates
Exciting and excited stage winner in Issoire, with memories of goosebumps for Gino Mader, a colleague who died in Switzerland, Pello Bilbao’s Tour de France is being a movie. To such an extent that the Gernikarra begins to awaken the ‘what if…’ of the fans. His performance in the time trial on Tuesday and his excellent performance in the infernal Col de la Loze allow the Basque to dream of the podium. An objective that was not in his plans since he arrived at the ‘Grand Départ’ with the sole obligation of helping Mikel Landa and hunting down a good escape.
“Dreaming of the third step of the podium is crazy. The last mountain stage will not be as extreme as this one. I can try to win another one and get a good place overall, but I don’t know which one& rdquor ;, stated the one from Bahrain, third in today’s stage and exhibiting a kidney injury that even cut Vingegaard on the steep ramp of the Courchevel altiport.
The truth is The Biscayan runner is sixth in the general table31 seconds from Simon Yates, 49 from Carlos Rodríguez and 2 minutes and five seconds from Bury’s other twin, an Adam Yates who would now be in the photograph with the Champs-Élysées behind him, escorting Vingegaard and his teammate pogacar.
The options are brief, especially considering that the road book draws two transition days and the race will not pick up again until the penultimate day in Los Vosges, at the gates of Paris. That will be the last bullet from Bilbao and from a Carlos Rodríguez who does not lose hope, despite another day giving up minutes: “I don’t give up the podium, this is the Tour, a very tough race in which even Tadej Pogacar, one of the strongest, can have a bad day, as seen today. You never know who can fail, I hope it’s not me”. The Andalusian, whatever happens, will end up happy in the City of Light.