It’s easy to think that the winner of the Tour de France will be decided on the biggest mountains of the race. It is there when the strongest riders come to the fore, where steep gradients and winding switchbacks confirm who has the best legs in the peloton. In reality, though, the Tour de France is about much more than that.
The eventual yellow jersey wearer has to make hundreds of thousands of tiny decisions over three weeks of racing. This doesn’t just mean on the climbs; it applies to sprint stages and intermediate stages, in recovery and fuelling. Making the correct choices as often as possible accumulates over the course of the race – every little ounce of wasted energy adds up. The Tour de France is not a sprint, but a battle of endurance, both mental and physical. That is something which is becoming ever more evident in this year’s race.
Stage 13 only included two fourth category climbs, and ordinarily it shouldn’t have been a day which would cause too much trouble for the general classification riders. However, the wind blew and the fight for the breakaway went hard from the flag drop. It was hectic and frantic, the sort of conditions that teams like UAE Team Emirates revel in. Yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogačar is a thoroughbred racer and his teammates, it seems, are following his lead.
The breakaway was established and there was one rider in the large group which caused a headache for Pogačar's rivals. Adam Yates had slipped up the road and, if he’d have gained time, would have been a threat to the general classification podium at this year’s Tour de France. This was a problem for the likes of Visma-Lease a Bike and Jonas Vingegaard, who were quickly lured into UAE Team Emirates plan. They had to chase Yates down, they had to get on the front. Importantly, they had to make a decision which would cost them energy, just before two of the biggest mountain stages in this race so far.
“It was not a great group to have out in front, both in terms of the stage win and Adam Yates taking time on GC. That was not an easily controlled situation,” Visma-Lease a Bike’s Wout van Aert admitted after the stage. “But we were in place for the crosswinds, we knew what we needed to do and that's what we did, so we were always confident that we were going to make it back.”
For UAE Team Emirates, the situation was perfect: Pogačar could surf the wheels as Visma-Lease a Bike sent riders to the front. He didn’t have to put his nose in the wind while his rivals burnt their matches. The plan had been executed to perfection.
“It was clear in a stage with so much wind and opportunity that it would not be an easy stage just for sprinters which is why we should be attentive with all the team,” UAE Team Emirates team manager, Mauro Gianetti, said after the race. “In that moment Adam took the opportunity to jump in just to close the gap and it broke the peloton. We were in a very good position in a very good moment and the other teams had an obligation to work. We are playing the game.”
In the past, Pogačar has been criticised for his aggressive approach to racing, with critics arguing that he wastes energy in the Tour de France by snatching seconds rather than waiting with the aim of gaining minutes on tougher terrain. Today, however, was an example of when UAE Team Emirates’ strategy paid off. It might not have caused gaps on the general classification in the end, but it was clever bike racing which will have an impact on their rivals, both mentally and physically.
“Right now we are leading the Tour and I think the fatigue that we have is the same as the other riders. Our racing style has paid off in the right way,” Gianetti continued.
“We see today with the race we have spent less energy compared to any other team so at the moment it’s perfect. I think the tactic is to be aggressive with sense, not aggressive with no sense.”
