18-07-2021, 23:31
Thanks again to themaclad for his daily updates on Le Tour. I'll add my thoughts to his reports as usual, mainly because I like to be HEARD!!!
Only two other riders finished within 10 minutes of Tadej Pogacar, which really tells you all you need to know about the Yellow Jersey contest.
In the Green Jersey contest, Mark Cavendish cemented his dominance with 3rd place behind Wout Van Aert and Jesper Philipsen in Paris to finish 46 points ahead of Michael Matthews and 110 points ahead of Sonny Colbrelli.
The King Of The Mountains Jersey was won by Pogacar, mainly due to the huge number of points awarded to a mountain stage winner, but that will surely be looked at for next year. Wouter Poels was 2nd, 19 points behind with Jonas Vingegaard a further 6 points adrift.
The Youth winner was Pogacar again with Vingegaard 2nd and David Gaudu 3rd.
The Team prize was won by Bahrain Victorious (helped by their run-in with Inspector Clouseau of the Gendarmerie) from EF Education Nippo (led by Cato? - no ritchie, wrong nationality) and Jumbo Visma (which really should have been a panther).
The super-combative prize was won by Frank Bonnamour.
Just to dwell on the last category description, the one thing I've enjoyed about the after-race interviews is the word "super" from the riders whose first language is not English - Super-happy/hard/tired/etc. The other words heard more often than most others are "for sure". Now indelibly imprinted in my memory.
Much has been made of the record 34 stage wins by Merckx and Cavendish. Cav will undoubtedly be back next year to try to extend that number and many will believe it will become unbeatable. If someone can do it, Pogacar could easily be that man. He's still only 22 and has won 6 stages in 2 years and cannot be discounted readily if he continues to improve. One record that will surely never be threatened is Merckx's of being the holder of all 4 jerseys in 1969.
Only two other riders finished within 10 minutes of Tadej Pogacar, which really tells you all you need to know about the Yellow Jersey contest.
In the Green Jersey contest, Mark Cavendish cemented his dominance with 3rd place behind Wout Van Aert and Jesper Philipsen in Paris to finish 46 points ahead of Michael Matthews and 110 points ahead of Sonny Colbrelli.
The King Of The Mountains Jersey was won by Pogacar, mainly due to the huge number of points awarded to a mountain stage winner, but that will surely be looked at for next year. Wouter Poels was 2nd, 19 points behind with Jonas Vingegaard a further 6 points adrift.
The Youth winner was Pogacar again with Vingegaard 2nd and David Gaudu 3rd.
The Team prize was won by Bahrain Victorious (helped by their run-in with Inspector Clouseau of the Gendarmerie) from EF Education Nippo (led by Cato? - no ritchie, wrong nationality) and Jumbo Visma (which really should have been a panther).
The super-combative prize was won by Frank Bonnamour.
Just to dwell on the last category description, the one thing I've enjoyed about the after-race interviews is the word "super" from the riders whose first language is not English - Super-happy/hard/tired/etc. The other words heard more often than most others are "for sure". Now indelibly imprinted in my memory.
Much has been made of the record 34 stage wins by Merckx and Cavendish. Cav will undoubtedly be back next year to try to extend that number and many will believe it will become unbeatable. If someone can do it, Pogacar could easily be that man. He's still only 22 and has won 6 stages in 2 years and cannot be discounted readily if he continues to improve. One record that will surely never be threatened is Merckx's of being the holder of all 4 jerseys in 1969.
Cabbage is still good for you