Tomorrow’s Stage 9 brings the first summit finish of the Tour, in Tignes. Another nice, easy day in the saddle for the riders, then.
That’s all from me - thanks for reading, emailing in, tweeting etc. Bye for now.
Dancing in the streets of the Emirates tonight:
💛 The first day in yellow! @TamauPogi #TDF2021 #UAETeamEmirates #RideTogether pic.twitter.com/tIzggIKYL3
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) July 3, 2021
Here is Jeremy Whittle’s report of another insane day:
Pogacar - the Tour champion and the new race leader for this year - is asked if that attack was planned in advance: “In the morning, not really, I said we’ll see how it goes today ... then in the start it was a super-hard day, riders everywhere ... it was super-hard for everyone, and in the end I felt good in this weather, it feels great. Before the last three climbs, I said to my teammates: ‘Let’s try and break the race,’ and we did it ... I saw that everybody was suffering ... I just took off, and tried to pace myself to the finish line. I’m pretty happy.
Is he surprised he dropped everyone so seemingly easily? “I suspected after yesterday, we did a lot of work, the other teams attacked us, they thought they could break us as a team ... yeah I thought they will show more today ... but, yeah, in the end, I guess they were affected from yesterday, and from today’s cold and rain.”
Updated
On ITV, Gary Imlach warns that riders are still coming in, and some may miss the time cut. I think the scenario is that if it’s a huge group, they will be allowed to ride on tomorrow, but Cavendish would lose his green jersey points if he comes in past the time cut.
Updated
Second-placed Van Aert is 1’48” down on GC. Pogacar has pretty much single-handedly dismantled the competition this afternoon in one of the great Tour de France rides.
Pogacar (29hr 38’ 25”)
Van Aert +1’48”
Lutsenko +4’38”
Uran +4’46”
Vingegaard +5’00”
Carapaz +5’01”
Kelderman +5’13”
Mas +5’15”
Gaudu +5’52”
Bilbao +6’41”
#TDF2021 - GC after Stage 8 pic.twitter.com/eiD82HGYPQ
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) July 3, 2021
Updated
Davide Formolo, Pogacar’s teammate, speaks to ITV about the attack on the Col de Romme: “He said he was feeling well, he wanted to attack on the second-last climb ... he said Davide, it’s the moment, so I did my leadout for him, and then I could save my legs for the next days ... Everyone was looking at us [to control the race] ... but the best defence is attack. Yellow is a dream for everyone, what I can say?”
Stage winner Teuns speaks: “It’s super-amazing, until now I had a difficult year, aiming for some goals, but never came close so finally I can celebrate.
“It was not easy, tactically - in the beginning a lot of stress, I mean stress like nervousness ... it was hard to get a group in the front, with 60 guys full on and on, and then Wout was aiming for the climber’s jersey, he was up there alone, then it was easy for us, having to follow the wheels ... the second-last climb it was a bit worrying, because they started from the bottom really hard, and it was hard for me to follow that pace, but I came back nicely.
“In the top [of the final climb], I heard Pogacar was coming [on the radio] ... I was thinking, OK, if I can make the top with one minute, it should be OK for the descent. It’s just amazing to win in the Tour ... it’s a nice taste ... [tears welling up] it was an honour to my granddad, who died just before the Tour, that’s why I was pointing up [when he crossed the line], he died just ... we had the funeral a few days before I had to go to the Tour, so it was a bit emotional for me, this last 10km. I hope he’s proud of me.”
Updated
Riders continue to roll across the line.
Top 10 on stage eight:
Teuns (3hr 54min 41sec)
Izaguirre
Woods
Pogacar
Poels
Yates
Paret Peintre
G. Martin
Cattaneo
Vingegaard
#TDF2021 - Stage 8 - Top 10 pic.twitter.com/I3I6rrXPvN
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) July 3, 2021
Updated
Carapaz, of Ineos Grenadiers, crosses the line more than four minutes down on the stage winner, and more than three minutes down on Pogacar.
The Slovenian Pogacar is our new race leader - he sits on a static bike, having a warm down, and shares a joke with his helper on the UAE Emirates team.
Updated
After crossing the finish line, Pogacar slumps over his bike in exhaustion, then embraces a team member as he’s offered a can of fizzy drink as a reward after an absolutely magnificent ride.
Now we wait for the rest of the peloton to roll in - many of whom will be slightly dazed at the sheer dominance of Pogacar’s display today.
Updated
Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) wins stage eight!
An epic stage win - what a fantastic ride from the Belgian. But the big story, with all due respect to Teuns and his team, is that punishing attack by Tadej Pogacar for UAE-Team Emirates.
Teuns points to the sky as he crosses the line - after 150km of flat-out racing and five categorised climbs, he takes the glory.
Izaguirre (Astana) comes home second, Woods third, Pogacar fourth.
GO @dylan_teuns 💥#RideAsOne #TDF2021
— Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) July 3, 2021
📸 @bettiniphoto pic.twitter.com/g96RUCxoO9
Updated
2.5km to go: Teuns’s lead is holding as they speed down the rain-soaked final few kilometres of today’s manic stage.
Meanwhile, a shot of Cav battling on back down the road:
Allez, @MarkCavendish!#TDF2021
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) July 3, 2021
Photo: A.S.O. / Pauline Ballet pic.twitter.com/TgotzAOPkX
4km to go: Teuns leads by 43 seconds. Carapaz is another three minutes behind the chase group.
Video here of Pog’s initial attack from Le Tour Twitter:
🤍 Tadej Pogacar attacks! The big battle as begun!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2021
🤍 🇸🇮 @TamauPogi attaque ! La grande bagarre des favoris a commencé !#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/vpIrYZbEXE
6km to go: Van Aert, indeed, was not as far behind as 15mins, as previously suggested by the official website timings. But the gap is 5’31” between Van Aert, who currently sits second on GC, and the front of the race. Teuns is five kilometres from his second career stage win at the Tour de France.
Updated
8km to go: Teuns is making a great fist of this - in fact, Pogacar now appears to have sat up, more or less, knowing that one mistake could cost him the overall race. Teuns is now 30” ahead. Pogacar doesn’t need the stage win today, but he will be in yellow. Izagirre and Woods have now caught him.
Updated
11km to go: Anyway. Teuns is five seconds ahead of Pogacar. In the virtual GC, Pogacar leads Carapaz by over five minutes. This is a devastating performance, one of the most remarkable witnessed at the Tour since ... last year, I suppose, and that final time trial when Pog denied Rog.
13km to go: Back down the road, Van Aert is putting in a huge dig to try and somehow grab yellow ... but Pogacar, up ahead, just looks too strong.
letour.fr is saying Van Aert is 15, nearly 16 minutes down on the front of the race ... can that be right?
14.6km to go: Teuns crests the final climb and takes maximum KOM points, but he wants the stage win. Pogacar is only a handful of seconds behind. But Teuns is a massively powerful rider, and on the descent to the finish, he has a good chance of staying away.
Updated
15km to go: This is the moment that Pogacar rode away from Carapaz on the Col de Romme. No one thought at that point he was going for the stage win. What a ride. He has put nearly three minutes into Carapaz now, and he can see the leaders. We are 300m from the top of the Col de la Colombière, after which it’s 14.7km to the finish. Pogacar sprints past Michael Woods, who a few minutes ago was on course for a stage win.
Updated
15.5km to go: Pogacar is now 35 seconds behind the leaders. Between him and the front two is Izaguirre (Astana). But Pogacar is about to catch him.
16.5km to go: Pogacar is hunting down the leaders! This is astonishing. He rides past Poels. He is less than a minute behind Woods and Teuns. Pogacar is riding for the stage win. He has closed down nearly six minutes on the front of the race, in the space of 12km or so.
Teuns joins lone leader Woods
17.5 km to go: Dylan Teuns joins Michael Woods. Pogacare has now put TWO - count them - TWO - minutes in Carapaz. Van Aert, back down the road, is riding hard - he is about three minutes behind on the road, but at this rate, Pogacar is going to ease his way into the yellow jersey.
Atop the Col de la Colombière, there is still 14.7km to race - downhill to Le Grand Bornand.
Updated
18.5km to go: The chasers are 29 seconds behind Woods. Pogacar, riding solo, is 1’33” behind.
But hang on! Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) is about to bridge across to Woods! He has come seemingly from nowhere and now leads the stage! Woods is on his wheel, but Woods looks far more fatigued than his Belgian rival.
Updated
“Although I’m going to be leading and going after a general classification run, the big goal is a stage win,” Woods told cyclingnews.com before the Tour. “That will come before the general classification. If I’m not going as well as I’m hoping in the general classification, I will sit up and try and lose time so I can get into breakaways later on.”
Mission accomplished? We’ll know in a few minutes. It’s a brilliant ride, whatever happens.
20km to go: That close shave for the current yellow jersey, Van der Poel, with an umbrella a few minutes ago:
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) July 3, 2021
Behind our leader Woods, the four-man chase group of Poels, Cattaneo, Yates and Quintana is 41” behind. Woods is making a mammoth effort for this stage win.
Updated
22km to go: On GC, Pogacar is 3’13” behind Van Aert. So if he manages to distance the Belgian by more than that, he’s into yellow. But today it won’t matter. This is about punishing all his true GC rivals, and he has just absolutely destroyed Carapaz on the Col de Romme.
25km to go: The four man chase group of Poels, Cattaneo, Yates and Quintana are 1’07” behind the lone leader Woods.
Pogacar, astonishingly, has now put over 1’20” into Carapaz with this attack. This is a brutal, brutal ride by the Slovenian. The Tour de France champion is now on the descent between the Col de Romme and the Col de la Colombière, the final climb of the day.
Updated
27km to go: Feel free to email me or tweet @LukeMcLaughlin with any thoughts on another mad stage ...
Carapaz looks in pain as he tries his best to limit these potential losses to Pogacar on the Col de Romme. There is STILL another climb to come after this.
On the road, Van Aert is about two minutes ahead of Van der Poel, so he is the new overall race leader.
Updated
28km to go: Woods leads over the top of the Col de Romme. Pogacar, attacking solo with incredible power on this category-one climb, is still just under four minutes behind the race leader.
Updated
29km to go: Van der Poel is pictured back down the climb. A spectator appears to have put his umbrella down in order to applaud from the side of the road ... unfortunately the wind blows said umbrella into Van der Poel’s path! Thankfully no damage done.
30km to go: This is Pogacar’s big move. Carapaz cannot hold his wheel when he puts in another huge dig on the severe slopes of the Col de Romme ... Up front, Woods is still over one kilometre from the top of the climb.
Updated
30km to go: Pogacar attacks! His teammate, Davide Formolo, had put in a huge dig to try and put pressure on the front group ... now Pogacar, the defending champion, clips off the front, and the only rider capable of following is Richard Carapaz of Ineos Grenadiers -
Look at Formolo’s face! What a ride!
Updated
30km to go: A shot of Van der Poel dropping back from Belgian telly:
Van der Poel laat de favorieten rijden. #tdf2021 pic.twitter.com/rJX6Mlk75e
— Sporza 🚴 (@sporza_koers) July 3, 2021
31km to go: A lovely shot of a smiling Roglic, riding solo and firmly out of the GC race, taking a bottle from a Lotto Soudal helper earlier today:
🇫🇷 #TDF2021
— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) July 3, 2021
Why we think cycling is such a great sport? This 👇
📸Facepeeters pic.twitter.com/pdoTkBU3PG
Meanwhile, up front, Woods is putting in a huge ride and he’s grown the gap on the chasers, digging deep and pounding the pedals to generate as much power as possible. He is 25 seconds up! Can he get enough of a gap to stay clear on the final climb?
Updated
33km to go: Yates, Poels, Quintana and Cattaneo have formed a chase group, closest to our leader Woods, and they are just nine seconds back on the Canadian according to letour.fr.
And Mathieu van der Poel is starting to crack on the climb! He is dropping back and Wout Van Aert will be starting to dream of the maillot jaune at the end of the day.
Updated
34km to go: Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) has now overtaken Kragh Andersen on the Col de Romme, and is riding off on his own ... He is standing up on the pedals occasionally, trying to distance his rivals in the breakaway.
There has been so much going on already today. It’s like a Shakespeare novel, as Toto Wolff would say:
Updated
35km to go: The gap between the front of the race and the back group is 5’52”. Cavendish, Froome, Roglic and Thomas have made it back into the bunch, which consists of 166 riders.
36km to go: I wonder what Deceuninck-Quick-Step’s thinking is on having Cavendish at the back is, more than 15 minutes behind? Have they considered sending some teammates back to help? Perhaps the GC ambitions for Alaphilippe are considered too important. Asgreen happens to be third on GC, by the way, but one can only assume that is not considered a realistic prospect in the long-term.
Having checked the groups on the road ... I can now see that Cavendish is back in the main bunch of 159 riders!
36km to go: Kragh Andersen has now dropped Benoot on the Col de Romme! He is going solo. That’s surprising, I thought if anything that Kragh Andersen was trying to set it up for Benoot. Being Danish, Kragh Andersen will be keen to get to the finish, get showered and watch the football - Czech Republic v Denmark kicks off at 5pm UK time.
38km to go: The pair from Team DSM, Kragh Andersen and Benoot, are on the flat between the climbs and are powering towards the start of the Col de Romme.
Back in the bunch, De Bod of Astana has crashed on the descent. Initially he looks in a terrible state, and his bike looks broken, but now he’s sitting up and literally dusting himself off, thinking about climbing back on to his bike.
41km to go: Plus 15 minutes back down the road for the Thomas/Cav/Froome/Roglic group. Pretty amazing, the more you think about it!
46.5km to go: Poels takes the 10 points atop the Côte de Mont-Saxonnex! That was huge. Ellisonde clipped off the front, Kuss followed, Poels managed to get on Kuss’s wheel and then powered through and took a dominant uphill-sprint win. Great to watch. Poels of Bahrain Victorious is the leader of the KOM competition on the road.
There is a lot of rain around. All the spectators are clutching umbrellas, their heads tucked into rain hoods, but they are cheering all the same.
Søren Kragh Andersen is now attacking this wet descent full pelt for Team DSM, along with Tiesj Benoot ... not for the faint-hearted, this. But they are now out of sight of the lead group! They are going for it!
Updated
47km to go: Elissonde attacks! Kuss follows. Poels manages to grab Kuss’s wheel!
47km to go: Poels will hope to grab the 10 points atop this climb, but did he burn a few too many matches earlier in the stage? He has been out front a lot on his own already.
48km: Juul-Jensen grimaces with effort as he sets the pace up the climb. And it’s quite a fearsome pace he’s setting, too, trying to set this up for his leader Simon Yates, and maybe whittle down this front group. The gap is growing all the time, and the break group is now 4’55” ahead as they negotiate the Côte de Mont-Saxonnex.
Indeed, there are riders at the back of the group visibly struggling with the pace being set at the front. Quintana is still looking great, and very much ready to strike.
Updated
49km to go: A couple of other things to bear in mind: If Van Aert can put 31” or more into Van der Poel today, he’s in yellow.
Secondly, is Pogacar going to smash it on the final climb and try and grab some time back in GC? It seems likely.
50km to go: The quartet of Roglic, Thomas, Froome and Cavendish are now 13’10” behind the front of the race. For Cavendish, this is a nightmare, because that gap is only going to grow with three category-one climbs to come. Are we going to see a dramatic temporary alliance form between the British riders - are they going to try and help Cav make the cut??
Updated
51km to go: The Colombian Quintana is pictured pumping up the first of the category-one climbs in the lead group. He look as focused as a hitman with a bag of cement and a map to the river.
Updated
If you somehow missed yesterday’s madness, catch up on Jeremy Whittle’s report here:
52km to go: Here we go then. I would call it the business end of stage eight, but it’s safe to say there has been plenty of business already.
The front group has hit the Côte de Mont-Saxonnex - the Col de Romme and the Col de la Colombière, also category-one climbs, are still to come. Here we go!
57km to go: Poels is caught. Juul-Jensen powers along at the front of the peloton, working for his team leader Yates, who will have his eyes on a stage win. Bury-born Yates said yesterday after the stage that he would feel tired going into these stages, which should suit him better, after the manic day yesterday. But he must be feeling OK having made it into this group.
Meanwhile - Valverde is dropped from the lead group. The gap between break and the second group - which contains 135 riders, including Van der Poel and Van Aert - is 3’37”.
Updated
58km to go: Green jersey wearer Mark Cavendish is pictured at the start today. He doesn’t look thrilled. Did he have a problem before the stage, or was he just annoyed about the rain?
62km to go: There does seem to be some form of structure to the race now, with this group up at the front chasing Poels settling to their task. They are only 24” behind Poels as the race approaches the category-one Côte de Mont-Saxonnex.
The chase group in full: Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious), Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ), Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo), Ion Izagirre (Astana-Premier Tech), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Søren Kragh Andersen, Tiesj Benoot (Team DSM), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Simon Yates, Chris Juul-Jensen (Team BikeExchange), Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), Michael Woods (ISN), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën), Sergio Henao (Qhubeka NextHash), Victor de la Parte (TotalEnergies).
It looks like a breakaway has finally formed up front, with @jcastroviejo up there in the group of 18 #TDF2021
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) July 3, 2021
If you haven't already, check out this feature on how he prepared for back to back Grand Tours - https://t.co/L0adXk8wz0 pic.twitter.com/Po56kcHgAk
Updated
66km to go: Roglic is now riding at the back of the race with the British trio of Thomas, Froome and Cavendish. They are 12’22” behind the front of the race, the Dutchman Wout Poels. There is a group of two, Pierre Latour and Dan Martin, who are about 7’25” back.
Updated
71km to go: The American, Sepp Kuss is an extremely talented climber and will be a big threat for the stage win today, assuming he is allowed off the leash by Jumbo-Visma. With Roglic miles back down the road, why shouldn’t he have a go?
Tiesj Benoot (Team DSM), who’s also up in that front group, is a previous winner of Strade Bianche and a very useful climber, although perhaps better suited to short and sharp Classics-style climbs rather than Tour de France mountains.
Valverde (Movistar) is there too - who needs no introduction - along with Quintana of Arkea-Samsic. Lots and lots of candidates for stage glory.
Updated
75km to go: Anarchy. Carnage. Chaos. Call it what you like - this is another absolutely nuts stage, on which it’s pretty much every man for himself. Everyone was already exhausted after yesterday’s mammoth stage - but there was no hint of a rest for the peloton a little earlier, with the attacks coming thick and fast as soon as the flag dropped.
Updated
76km to go: Quintana, Benoot, Henao, G. Martin, Paret-Peintre, Cattaneo, Valverde, S. Yates, Ellissonde, D. Teuns, Woods, Izaguirre Insausti, Armirail and Juul Jensen and Castroviejo, are in the second group on the road, 43” behind Poels.
There is another section of climbing now, after the categorised climb point, then a descent, then a very demanding climb of the Côte de Mont-Saxonnex, a category-one.
Updated
77km to go: Thomas/Froome/Cav now over 10 minutes down. Roglic still rides alone, just up the road ahead of today’s wooden-spoon winners. Elissonde attacks at the top of the second climb - but Poels has already ridden through, and taken the solitary point on offer.
“They might not even know that Poels is up the road ... they may not have any information from the team cars,” observes David Millar. Crazy scenes!
Updated
79km to go: Poels powers on at the head of the race, heading up the category-four Côte de Menthonnex-en-Bornes. Søren Kragh Andersen (Team DSM) has attacked behind, on his own, and is trying to bridge across. But Andersen is only a few seconds ahead of the next group on the road, and looks likely to get swept up by a chasing group.
80km to go: Proof, on video, that the lorry is on the move:
Ça y est, le camion a passé le sommet pic.twitter.com/f1trm8fSQp
— Yanis Addict’O sports 🟢🟢 (@AddictOsports) July 3, 2021
Updated
83km to go: Reports that Van Aert is attacking at the front, although I missed that if it was shown on telly. Ellissonde is chasing Poels for KOM points.
Roglic rides on, with a smile on his face, perhaps knowing that his race is all but over.
#TDF2021 King @KennyElissonde is chasing after leader Poels. They have both crested the Côte de Copponex. pic.twitter.com/0sWd4sIfmR
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) July 3, 2021
GC hopes ending for Thomas and Roglic
85km to go: Thomas, Cavendish and Froome are now over NINE minutes behind the front of the race. They are riding in a group right at the back. Cavendish is surely in danger of missing the time cut, at this rate? Roglic is on his own, a little bit up the road. Wout Poels is leading at the front, and led over the top of the first climb of the day.
⚪🔴 Still alone in the lead, 🇳🇱 @WoutPoels scores 2 points at the top of the Côte de Copponex.
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2021
⚪🔴 Toujours seul en tête, 🇳🇱 Wout Poels marque 2 points au sommet de la Côte de Copponex. #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/VjWfUp8BDi
Updated
87km to go: A reminder of the top five on GC before today’s stage:
Van der Poel 25h 39’ 17’’
Van Aert +30”
Asgreen +1’49”
Mohoric +3’01”
Pogacar +3’43”
Updated
88km to go: Right, it appears that the panic is over, and the lorry has been cleared from the climb. It was in fact on the Côte de Mont-Saxonnex -
We’re updating:
— Israel Start-Up Nation / Israel Cycling Academy (@TeamIsraelSUN) July 3, 2021
The truck is stuck on kilometer 102, on the Côte de Mont Saxonnex, and not on the Col de la Grand Colombière.#tdf2021 . pic.twitter.com/jj1rZ0W0Bw
90km to go: The Thomas group drops more than seven minutes behind. Roglic, who is 4’55” behind the front of the race, is now actually riding with a smile on his face, accepting the applause of the fans at roadside with good grace. He has accepted that he is participating, but not racing.
Updated
92km to go: Roglic is pictured, riding behind the main group, looking in some discomfort - or at the very least, somewhat peed off with how this is all going ... now, according to the groups on letour.fr, Thomas, Cavendish and Froome are riding together in a group of three at the back!
92km to go: Poels has attacked off the front group again.
94km to go: Just when you thought this race couldn’t get any more bizarre - it appears there is a lorry stuck on the final climb, the Col de la Colombière:
There is a truck stuck on the final climb:
— Israel Start-Up Nation / Israel Cycling Academy (@TeamIsraelSUN) July 3, 2021
Our osteopath Joe reported a problem on the Col de la Colombière. A truck got stuck and no one is able to pass.#TdF2021 pic.twitter.com/S3dhXUUXXa
96km to go: That group of 14 has now become 28. This really is crazy stuff. They are on the first climb, the Côte de Copponex, which is a category-three.
Updated
97km to go: A group of 14 is in front: Van de Poel, Van Aert, Mohoric, Pogacar, Alaphilippe, Henao, Poels, Cattaneo, Bernard, Colbrelli, De Bod, Swift, Kuss, Jensen.
This is INSANE! Yesterday, they raced like there was no tomorrow. Well, this is tomorrow, and it’s still mental.
99m to go: It’s still flat-out at the front, so even if the sprint teams can sit up now after the sprint point, there is still a massive battle to form the breakaway at the tête de la course.
The gap is now 5’31” between the groups! “This is going to be another of those killer days,” observes Sean Kelly on Eurosport. It most certainly is.
Updated
102km to go: My instinct is that Thomas will pack it in, but I could be wrong. A dislocated shoulder isn’t fun, and it was a question of how his body reacted in the following days. It doesn’t appear to be good news on that score. But true, maybe he can battle on and provide valuable support for Carapaz as the race rolls on.
Updated
103km to go: “I think those of us who worried that Ineos’s strength and depth would ensure a boring race need not worry any more,” emails James in Bodrum. “Going into the first climb of the first mountain stage on Day 8 with no rider in the top 10 and your only former winner getting dropped is a disastrous predicament for a team of this budget who attach such importance to the Tour. It’s especially embarrassing if you spent the race build-up talking about how many of your riders could win the race. Carapaz is still looking good but it looks as though Movistar will chase him down every time, which helps Pogacar.
“The ‘four cards to play’ plan is in tatters. Will they recalibrate around Carapaz as undisputed leader and try to control the race for him? Can they do this on the fly today with Thomas going backwards? Will Thomas stay in the race, recover and ride for Carapaz? Will that be good enough to beat Pogacar?”
105km to go: Colbrelli gets what he came for: the Bahrain Victorious man sprints for the line in Frangy, as Michael Matthews tries to respond. Colbrelli takes maximum points on a slightly uphill drag to the line.
The gap is growing between the big groups on the road, it’s now out to 4’15”.
Updated
106km to go: The sprint point is coming up.
107km to go: Just quickly, does anyone know what this was about at the finish yesterday? Movistar’s Enric Mas seemed to be furious with Michal Kwiatkowski about something -
Valverde cruza la línea hablando con Kwiatkowski y a continuación Enric Mas se acerca encendido a por él. #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/3uwrdUxSJ9
— Diego Ayús (@soydiegoayus) July 2, 2021
Email me or tweet @LukeMcLaughlin - cheers!
112km to go: The front group is now speeding down the descent down to the flatter section and the intermediate sprint, which comes at Frangy.
After that, the riders start the initially gentle climb to the category-three Côte de Copponex. It’s all go, it really is.
Pun-tastic from Edward Pickering on Twitter:
Bahrain. Which is probably what most of the peloton said when they saw the weather for today's stage.
— Edward Pickering (@EdwardPickering) July 3, 2021
115km to go: Cavendish is in the second group, so can kiss goodbye to the sprint points today.
On Eurosport, Bernie Eisel reports that Geraint Thomas looks like he’s really suffering physically.
Will we see both Thomas and Roglic - both considered huge GC contenders before the race - pack it in today? The flat-out racing is not going to be doing them any favours as they nurse injuries from crashes in the first week.
Updated
117km to go: Michael Woods, by the way, is fine after that reported crash, which was not captured by the TV cameras.
It’s all action at the front, and the gap between the two groups is 3’22”.
The good news for the group at the back? The race will likely calm down after the intermediate sprint, which is under 10km away.
Here, by the way, is today’s stage profile:
Updated
118km to go: Roglic is now a lone rider between the two large groups on the road, after dropping out of the front group.
🇸🇮@rogla has been dropped from the main group.
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2021
🇸🇮@rogla est lâché par le peloton. #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/fCo1ODpqhx
120km to go: The gap is 2’21” between the two very large groups on the road. Geraint Thomas is in the second group. Primoz Roglic is pictured falling off the back of the front group - he is clearly still struggling after his crash a few days ago.
Up at the front, on one of the uncategorised climbs, Colbrelli tries to break away again. He is motivated for those intermediate sprint points.
Updated
125km to go: Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) moves up into a small group at the front and they have a few seconds on the chasing pack - alarm bells will be sounding for the GC teams. Cattaneo (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) and Swift (Arkéa–Samsic) are up there too, along with Julien Bernard of Trek-Segafredo. Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) is there too - hoping to get in a break and mop up those sprint points!
Updated
126km to go: It’s a manic day so far, so much going on, and tough to keep up with it all.
What I can tell you is that is the current top five in the points standings:
Cavendish (168pts)
Van der Poel (103pts)
Philipsen (102pts)
Bouhanni (99pts)
Matthews 96 pts
Sagan is seventh, on 72pts, Colbrelli is eighth, on 66pts.
Updated
130km to go: Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) attacks on the front. This has all the hallmarks of a race for the intermediate sprint point, after which, a break will be allowed to go. Racing at this pace they will be at the sprint point in double-quick time. There are two more uncategorised climbs before a flat-out ride down to Frangy and the sprint point.
Updated
133km to go: The Thomas group is 1’33” behind the front part of the peloton. The front group, which contains the yellow jersey Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) is completely strung out as the fight to form the breakaway continues. This is a super, super stressful start to the stage for all the riders.
Updated
138km to go: Crash for Michael Woods - Israel Startup Nation’s leader - who apparently lost it on a bend.
There is now a group of 71 riders up front, Poels has been caught.
There’s a huge gap between the groups on the road, of over a kilometre - Geraint Thomas is in the back group.
🇨🇦 @rusty_woods crashes in the lead group.
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2021
Chute de 🇨🇦 @rusty_woods, il est allé tout droit dans un virage.#TDF2021
Updated
140km to go: The intermediate sprint point for today is coming up fairly soon, at Frangy, after 44km of racing. If this comes back together, Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) will no doubt try and tighten his grip on the points competition there. But it seems more likely, given the intensity of the racing, that a breakaway group will have formed by that point.
Or, perhaps the sprinters’ teams are going to work up until then, then let a break go afterwards? We’ll see.
Updated
141km to go: Poels flies down the wet descent, occasionally slipping and sliding on the road slightly. He’s got 14 seconds on the chasers. The peloton is completely strung out behind - it’s a fierce start to the day, much like it was yesterday.
Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) in trouble
143km to go: Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) is pictured labouring at the back of the race, having been dropped by the main peloton. Much more of this and any ambitions of a decent GC finish will be totally gone: he is over five minutes off the pace already so a victory is pretty much out of the question, barring miracles.
Updated
146km to go: Poels, the former Team Sky/Ineos climber, has gone solo at the front on this ascent, which is interesting. At the back of the field, riders are being dropped left, right and centre, including four-times champion Chris Froome.
What is Poels up to for Bahrain Victorious? It’ll be a looooong day if he does manage to make a solo break stick, but other teams behind are trying to bridge across - this isn’t done yet. He has 18 seconds as they crest the climb and embark on the wet descent.
Updated
148km to go: Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Ineos) are attacking up at the front - today’s race, if you didn’t know, has kicked off on steep ascent to Oyonnax. Nairo Quintana (Arkéa–Samsic) has also had a bash.
149km to go: There was a slight delay to the start - I think because a rider in the bunch suffered a mechanical. Anyway, the flag has dropped on a rainy day in France and the racing, predictably, is fierce from the off. Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal) clearly fancies it. Surely, after the manic day yesterday, the teams will find some kind of ceasefire and let an acceptable breakaway go?
Updated
Preamble
Can a 249.1km stage ever be ‘easy’? It seems unlikely: but the riders would have hoped for something far more serene than the manic scenes of yesterday, when a large breakaway group containing the yellow jersey, the green jersey and a couple of dozen of seriously strong riders escaped up the road and ensured an intensely demanding day of racing. Matej Mohoric took the stage victory at the end of it all, and the general classification was shaken up no end on one of the most exciting Tour stages in recent memory.
As a result of all that craziness, there are going to be some seriously tired and sore bodies in the peloton going into today’s stage, the first mountain test of this year’s race, from Oyonnax to Le Grand Bornand. Five categorised climbs await the riders on today’s 150.8km route. They will crest the last of them, the Col de la Colombière, with 14.8km to go after which it will be a flat-out descent to the finish.
Rain is forecast, many of the usual breakaway suspects will be eyeing up glory with a stage win, the GC teams and riders will potentially be on the attack - or forced to defend - and after all the drama and excitement that was packed into the Tour’s first week, the race doesn’t really start until it hits the mountains. Allez!
