The 109th Tour de France is entering its last week. In the fight for the yellow jersey, Dane Jonas Vingegaard is 2:22 minutes ahead of defending champion Tadej Pogacar. The German professional cyclists are still waiting for a win. Five questions before the last six stages in the final week:
Has the fight for the yellow jersey been decided?
no Even if Vingegaard hasn’t shown any weaknesses so far, three difficult Pyrenees stages and the individual time trial are still waiting. In 2020, Pogacar took over the tour against his Slovenian compatriot Primoz Roglic on the penultimate day in a fight against the clock. At that time it went up to Planche des Belles Filles. This time it’s flat, so Pogacar will hardly catch up 2:22 minutes. So he has to attack in the Pyrenees. Excitement is guaranteed.
Will a German professional still win a stage?
Rather not. In the mountains, Lennard Kämna would be most likely to pull off a coup. In the case of the North German, who has tried in vain three times so far and failed once by the narrowest of margins, the strength seems to be dwindling. Kämna has just had a small infection and has already ridden the Giro before the tour. The German drivers have no chance in the individual time trial, there is no longer a winning sprinter compared to the times of André Greipel or Marcel Kittel.
Will Simon Geschke make it to Paris in a mountain jersey?
This is going to be difficult. Born in Berlin, he has been leading the mountain classification for seven days. However, it is a feat for the 36-year-old to keep going into breakaway groups and collecting mountain points. In the Pyrenees, the former Tour stage winner has to surpass himself again. But even before the Alps, hardly any expert believed Geschke capable of defending the jersey.