Will Kämna possibly take on the role of captain? “I don’t think so. Of course it’s annoying for Alex. I think he really noticed yesterday’s fall. It doesn’t leave anyone untouched. Now let’s see what we’ll do in the next few weeks,” said the young German .
Pogacar didn’t want to ‘disappoint’ girlfriend
Pogacar cheered in front again. “It was really tough, especially the last piece. Then Vingegaard attacked, he was so strong,” said Pogacar and revealed a very special motivation: “My girlfriend was at the finish line, I couldn’t disappoint her. That’s why I really wanted to win. I wanted to win this a long time ago.” Girlfriend Urska Zigart is also a professional cyclist. Pogacar’s parents were also at the track on the seven-kilometer final climb.
At the foot of the Super Planche des Belles Filles, Maximilian Schachmann had positioned his teammate Kämna as part of a leading group, followed only by Belgian Dylan Teuns and Simon Geschke. First Geschke attacked, the Berliner pulled away a bit. Kämna tactically stayed on Teuns’ rear wheel. Only five kilometers before the summit did the North German start again, jumped from Teuns to Geschke and left the German veteran behind with another start a little later.
The German team Bora-hansgrohe announced days ago that they wanted to send a driver to the breakaway group. Said and done. It took the first 50 kilometers of the race for a group to stand still. But then there were Schachmann and Kämna as well as the Cofidis professional Geschke in a group of seven. The lead quickly grew to almost three minutes and Schachmann virtually drove in the yellow jersey.
Jumbo-Visma reserved until the final climb
Apparently Pogacar didn’t like that and he let his team work in the field. The lead shrank to just under two minutes and stayed there for a few kilometers. Then Kämna and Schachmann attacked before the first climb of the day, the Col de Grosse Pierre. Although the group finally drove back together, the pace remained high. Pogacar’s team worked at the back of the pack, but the leading group pulled away by more than three minutes. With a lead of about one and a half minutes, we started the final ascent.
The Jumbo-Visma team around Vingegaard, who came second last year, behaved much more cautiously until the final climb. After the sixth stage, Schachmann had massively criticized the team’s driving style, especially their star Roglic. “In any case, Jumbo has to get over it a bit. Roglic caused this fall again because they just drive like broken ones for the last few centimeters, can’t do it, then hang themselves on the roadside. It’s a hazard for all drivers and total unnecessary,” said Schachmann.
In the scene mentioned by Schachmann about 13 kilometers from the finish in Longwy, the TV images do not make it clear whether Roglic caused the fall on Thursday. You can only see how another driver falls, Roglic avoids and drives a bit through the ditch. “Where there is no space, there is no space at the moment. You don’t need to switch everyone off,” said Schachmann.