25km to go. It might be a hell of a narrative too for Træn too. The 30-year-old climber was recognized with testicular most cancers in 2022 and had a tumour eliminated, returning to racing with a clear invoice of well being later that season.
Ninth general within the Vuelta a España final yr,, he wore the pink yellow chief’s jersey for a number of days however that is biking’s final prize.
Break splits up over closing climb
28km to go. Ten males in entrance as they conclude a harum-scarum descent. Received to be conscious of melted tarmac in these boiling situations too.
They’re Lidl-Trek trio Mads Pedersen, Quinn Simmons and Matthias Vacek, Movistar twosome Raul Garcia Pierna and Pablo Castrillo, Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany Ineos), Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility), Sean Quinn (EF Training-EasyPost), Marco Frigo (NSN) and the fabulously-named Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech).
Træen stands to maneuver into the yellow jersey, with Pogacar within the peloton over 10 minutes in arrears.
35km to go. Marco Frigo (NSN) provides it a dig and leads excessive of the col, however Quinn Simmons has him in his sights, setting the tempo a lot of the method up the climb. It’s benefit Lidl-Trek, with three riders within the whittled-down 11-strong entrance group, with Pedersen and Vacek hanging in there.
38km to go. Vacek and Tratnik have been caught as EF Training First’s Valgren faucets out a punishing tempo up the climb.
The peloton with Pogacar is eight minutes in arrears. Up entrance, Torsten Træn (Uno-X Mobility) appears to be like more likely to transfer into the yellow jersey except Sean Quinn can put 28 seconds into him.
Quinn is attempting his finest too. He takes over the pace-setting and riders are being dropped, together with Gregoire and Van den Broeck.
41km to go. Pedersen is a robust, top-quality rider however there are many different groups and riders who wish to drop him and seize an opportunity to win a Tour stage.
I’ll predict just a few danger-men: Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany Ineos), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) and Quinten Hermans (Pinarello-Q36.5).
43km to go. The lead for Vacek, Tratnik and Kirsch has plummeted, simply 11 seconds to the 28-strong chase group behind. Lidl-Trek need Pedersen to win right now. They’re about to start out climbing the day’s final categorised climb, the cat-2 Col de Montségur.
In the meantime, the followers are going bananas.
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47km to go. “France is watching you. everyone seems to be watching you right now. I don’t need any doubts, any regrets. I need 100% Kevin Vauquelin right now,” sports activities director Daryl Impey says over race radio to the Netcompany Ineos rider within the break. I really feel pumped up and motivated ,and it’s not even aimed toward me.
One of many higher messages broadcast over race radio to viewers, that are all pre-vetted anyway. Most of them don’t add a lot perception, however Pogacar’s “I’m useless, I’m gone,” from 2023 will take some beating.
Jeremy Whittle
The warmth in Foix is brutal, like southern Spain in August, with folks gathering within the shadows and avoiding the solar. On the best way to the end space, the roads had been melting and most spectators huddled below umbrellas or roadside bushes.
For the Tour’s suiveurs, the largest hardship has been the shifting of the sweat field that was the same old Foix press room, set in a metallic shed on the financial institution of the Ariege river, however blessed with an ideal riverside buffet. Paddling whereas additionally consuming had develop into de rigueur. Not this yr although.
55km to go. There’s a quick descent for leaders Matthias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Alex Kirsch (Cofidis) and Jan Tratnik (Crimson Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) as they shut on the day’s closing categorised climb, the Col de Montségur. Vacek seems to be doing so much much less work on the entrance than his companions, with the seemingly excuse that his crew captain Mads Pedersen is their most important man, within the group behind.
The trio has a lead of fifty seconds. Nonetheless, I count on assaults to fly behind and the 29-strong most important break group to splinter on the Montségur, 6.9km in size at 6.6% common gradient.
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59km to go. Images from a broiling fourth stage on the Tour de France.
Joan and Andy H write in from the roadside of stage 4:
double citation mark Simply seen the peloton move in the beginning of the climb after Quillan. It’s 44 levels right here and the breakaway and the peloton appeared to be shifting in sluggish movement, even Pogacar. I don’t know the way they’re managing.
66km to go. The peloton have knocked off the tempo and are taking up feed baggage with sustenance and frozen vitamin. They’re 7min 28secs behind. I reckon the yellow jersey is altering arms right now: Træn and Quinn are the 2 seemingly candidates. The Norwegian would certainly be the primary individual with an ash ligature to put on the maillot jaune.
Alex Kirsch (Cofidis) has crossed the hole to Vacek and Tratnik, making it three in entrance, main by 24 seconds.
75km to go. Jan Tratnik (Crimson Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) have continued their effort and so they lead by 45 seconds going over the Col du Coudons. Behind, Mads Pedersen makes use of the plateau on the prime to place the hammer down.
Crash behind the bunch, involving British rider Jake Stewart (NSN). He has spent minutes being checked out by the medical workers.
80km to go. Sam Bass writes in with a cycling-based board sport advice. I should have it!
double citation mark With you on discovering Carcassonne (the board sport) a little bit of a churn. I can nonetheless – because the proprietor of 100+ board video games – advocate Flamme Rouge to you and maybe readers of this weblog who get pleasure from somewhat organised enjoyable. It’s not your conventional dice-chucking, luck-based race sport. It’s easy but deceptively good card play, charmingly mimicks race situations like consuming wind and slipstreaming. Particularly enjoyable when somebody ‘bonks’ having wasted their excessive power playing cards too early.
Been having fun with your penning this TdF! It’s been holding me firm on these sluggish summer time days.
82km to go. The break is on the second-category Col de Coudons. Extra like cauldron right now, with valuable little shade. Vacek and Tratnik have drifted off the entrance, with a lead of 15 seconds.
Inexperienced jersey factors within the bag, Girmay and Philipsen have sat up and are dropping again to the bunch – which remains to be being led by UAE Workforce Emirates-XRG employee Nils Politt. Incomes his preserve this afternoon.
85km to go. Transpires there was a earlier error in my e mail handle, it needs to be corrected now.
Hopes, ideas, predictions, Seixasmania, cassoulet ideas and tangents might be despatched to the handle linked above or andy.mcgrath.informal@guardian.co.uk
Girmay wins the intermediate dash
89km to go. By the dash at Quillan, the Eritrean is better of the quick males, pipping Jasper Philipsen and Mads Pedersen.
Their group’s hole is as much as 4min 30secs. By the best way, Torsten Træen (Uno-X Mobility) is the best-placed rider within the group, 5min 6secs behind Pogacar. Sean Quinn (EF Training-EasyPost) is 5min 34secs down too. If their lead retains rising, they are going to be considering that the yellow jersey is a chance, not only a stage win.
117km to go. The beefy break goes up and over the third-category Col du Paradis, Alex Molenaar outsprinting Michael Valgren to take two King of the Mountains factors. Their benefit? 3 minutes 5secs.
The digital camera relaxation briefly on Decathlon CMA CGM Workforce chief Paul Seixas. How do you suppose the much-touted French teenager will do on the Tour? Or will another person be the revelation of this race? Let me know and have a learn of Jeremy Whittle’s pre-race piece about him whereas I come out for some grub:
124km to go. It’s completely baking on the market within the Aude, temperatures of 36 levels Celsius. Not very enjoyable below that solar.
Riders keep calm, cool and picked up by spraying themselves with water from their bottles, having slushies and stuffing ice socks down their jerseys. (Not precise foot socks). Soigneurs should have been working extra time cramming cooler packing containers with goodies.
130km to go. Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) goes over the fourth-category Col des Bedos first.
UAE Workforce Emirates-XRG strongman Nils Politt, he of the incandescent enamel – Geraint Thomas as soon as referred to as him the “Flying Dentist” on a podcast – and dynamite legs, has ridden on the entrance for the final half an hour, taking the bunch’s deficit all the way down to 3mins 19 secs.
135km to go. TNT Sports activities comms chatting away about cassoulet. Since my first Excursions on the grounds over 15 years in the past, my colleagues had been delighted about being in Occitanie as a result of we may chow down on this regional dish, and so they handed on that appreciation.
Beans, sausages, bacon, duck, goose, mutton, rooster legs in a scorching scorching pot: it’s a hearty, scrumptious dish for a heat winter’s day. Not what you need throughout a scorching summer time and no riders will likely be tucking in. Nonetheless, for followers and the press pack, when in Rome Carcassonne…
140km to go. Stage begin city Carcassonne can be a board sport, all about constructing a highway community and panorama. Must say I discovered it very uninteresting the one time I performed it, maybe the flaw was solely having two of us. It’s no Catan.
148km to go. Seventeen of the Tour’s 23 groups are represented on this mega-escape, in with an opportunity. Their lead is 3mins 45secs.
Two of the squad lacking out – UAE and Visma-Lease a Bike – are main the bunch, solely too glad to take care of their famous person leaders. Decathlon CMA CGM Workforce, XDS Astana and Tudor are the others to overlook out, their riders most likely getting an earful over race radio by aggravated sport administrators.
Massive breakaway escapes
155km to go. The peloton followers throughout the highway, glad for some let-up within the motion. Rider after rider attacked, making it a 34-strong super-group. A good few too many riders to be significantly cohesive, I’d wager.
The most important names up the highway? Former world champ Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven, dash star Jasper Philipsen, four-time Tour stage winner Michael Matthews, Biniam Girmay and French champion Romain Grégoire.
The complete rundown of escapees (surnames solely or I’ll be right here all day): Pedersen, Simmons, Vacek, Quinn, Valgren, Steinhauser, Denz, Tratnik, Vauquelin, Van Mechelen, Stannard, Stuyven, Eenkhoorn, Philipsen, Debruyne, Planckaert, Matthews, Træen, Girmay, Frigo, Zimmermann, Izagirre, Kirsch, Castrillo, Oliveira, Garcia Pierna, Gregoire, Costiou, Delettre, Hermans, Van Moer, Molenaar, Nicolau and, final however not least, Van den Broeck.
165km to go. You possibly can see fascinating micro-dynamics in each assault. A UAE rider shoots off up the highway, adopted seconds later by an eagle-eyed Visma-Lease a Bike man. The groups of the 2 protagonists are not looking for the opposite to have an higher hand.
Two Netcompany Ineos riders give it a go. The crew previously referred to as Sky, which used to dominate the Tour, will likely be stage searching this summer time. 2018 winner Geraint Thomas is their Director of Racing within the backroom.
174km to go. 14 riders have gone up the highway, together with Jasper Stuyven and Mads Pedersen, however the chase is on.
No ITV protection additionally means no goosebump-inducing theme tune. Take pleasure in it yet one more time:
Evidently a British viewer, Glenn Macdonald-Jones writes in, pulling no punches in regards to the free-to-air highlights.
double citation mark The publish race evaluation on Ch 5 is far weaker than the ITV4 was once as a result of it’s non-existent. Dreadful.
Off we go!
181km to go. The peloton passes kilometre zero after an extended neutralised roll-out of Carcassonne. Remco Evenepoel had a flat tyre in that part: the very best second to have one, no probability of dropping floor.
There may be going to be an almighty scrap to be within the day’s breakaway. The day’s first attacker is US champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek).
Doyen of biking journalism William Fotheringham reckons this may very well be a stage for veteran campaigners Michal Kwiatkowski or Magnus Cort. You possibly can learn his team-by-team information right here:
Yorkshire’s Tom Pidcock on the temperatures yesterday: “I don’t suppose I’ve completed such a tough race in such warmth earlier than, it was ridiculous. Like a warzone.”
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The stage rolls out of Carcassonne in 5 minutes’ time. With its cobbled streets and crenellations which may have been drawn by a toddler, the fairytale fortified French metropolis is unsurprisingly standard with vacationers.
I’ve fond reminiscences of it too: I watched England muller Panama 6-1 within the 2018 World Cup in a bar there. Jesse Lingard’s final aim for England, perhaps?
Pogacar and Vingegaard could also be on the very same time general, however the Slovenian struck an early psychological blow yesterday. UAE Workforce Emirates-XRG seized the race by the scruff of the neck when there was no actual want to leap into motion.
The gap he put into his rivals in a 300-metre dash was very spectacular. He appears to be like imperious, ominous earlier than the more durable mountain phases.
As Jeremy Whittle famous in his report, Pogacar’s twenty second Tour stage win fuelled discuss of him closing additional on Mark Cavendish’s win file of 35 however the Slovene batted away the suggestion. “It’s nonetheless distant,” he stated.
“Perhaps right now was my final victory ever. I desire to remain within the second and luxuriate in this victory. I don’t wish to take into consideration Mark’s file. Simply float.”
No large names have fallen out of rivalry but, however an outsider under-performing yesterday was spellcheck-upsetting Cian Uijtdebroeks. The Movistar captain completed a minute behind Pogacar and in addition suffered cramps within the race-opening TTT.
The debutant, touted as a doable grand tour star just a few years in the past, is already 3min 24secs down on the game’s Slovenian slayer. Ouch.
Breakfast information: we’re additionally in south-west France, the half the place they name a ache au chocolat a chocolatine. There are even bits of the nation, method out east, which name the scrumptious pastry a petit ache au chocolat.
A minefield for any suspecting vacationer blithely strolling into the native boulangerie.
Preamble
By Cathar and cassoulet nation we go for the 2026 Tour de France’s first totally French stage. It covers a lumpy 181.9km from splendorous Carcassonne to Foix over 4 categorised climbs.
There may be not fairly as a lot climbing on the menu as yesterday, however will probably be even hotter, with temperatures anticipated to be reaching 40 levels Celsius. Ah, the sweaty actuality of a contemporary Tour happening in July in the course of the local weather disaster.
Riders will likely be getting by way of water bottles into double figures and utilizing ice socks down the again of their necks. Stage three winner and new race chief, Tadej Pogačar, has completed loads of warmth coaching, however believes racing within the warmth is “harmful” when you don’t preserve your physique temperature down.
“It’s a logistic nightmare when it’s scorching like right now,” Pogačar stated yesterday. “As a crew, we actually begin to put numerous effort into this … we’ve got to convey a lot water and ice to the riders. Three guys return to the automobile to convey bottles and ice to maintain cooling your self.”
The game’s governing physique, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has tweaked guidelines, authorising the usage of feed baggage in zones initially outlined for the supply of bottles solely on categorised climbs ie. racers may also carry water bottles of their musettes. Each little helps.
After three phases placing Tour de France contenders to the fore, this ought to be one for the breakaways. Okay, I stated the identical 24 hours in the past and UAE Workforce Emirates-XRG proved me flawed, however I’m much more adamant right now.
The Col de Montségur, topped 35km from the end, will likely be a probable launchpad for stage-winning assaults.
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Contenders, then. A day like this may pique the curiosity of a variety of riders: British champion Fred Wright (Pinarello-Q36.5) has already famous his curiosity to media. This medium-mountain day may even swimsuit Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) and Ben Healy (EF Training-EasyPost), maybe a fast, resilient sprinter who can climb properly like Michael Matthews (Jayco Alula) or Alex Aranburu (Cofidis). After which there may be all the time awe-inspiring Monument man Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech?)…
Received Pogi fatigue but? Having fun with Channel 5’s highlights protection within the UK? Ship over your Tour ideas, predictions, quips, questions and tangents to me right here or on Bluesky.
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