Thursday 17: 13:10β13:25 β 17:30β18:00
The first true mountain passes today.
The start is not as flat as often: they will use the hills of Gers instead of going along the valleys as the Tour de France always does. But just a bit: they will ride exclusively on the highway π, so, long flat sections will still be present and the climbs will be smoother than on secondary roads; especially smooth as those hills are like factory roofs, and when going from East to West you always get the easy side.
Another bad day for Visma, they seem quite disjointed this year. This is now the second time in this Tour they've had guys setting a pace on the front that is too hard for the rest of the team, and their "one-two" strategy is now completely dead because Jorgenson evaporated on this stage. UAE were supposed to be the weaker team with Almeida out and Sivakov clearly struggling, but their remaining riders look way more unified and focused on the road.
INEOS had some interesting tactics in this stage. Not sure if it was the smartest move in hindsight, but at least they had a go and tried something different. It made the stage more enjoyable to watch so I thank them for that. There is also a very interesting battle brewing for third place and the white jersey, with other guys like Lipowitz, Vauquelin and Onley challenging Evenepoel's assumed pre-race dominance of those titles.
If Visma changes tactics from now on, it can be interesting for breakaways, as without Visma's accelerations, only UAE would be available to lead a chase and is also relatively weak (as a team). Well, βinterestingβ on stages which have not been marked by Pogatchar, where the UAE team will concentrate its efforts...
About Evenepoel, it is a pity that other GC contenders do not bury him when they have a chance. They should know that he can be knocked out and throw the towel when he is on the ropes, but if on the contrary you give him a rest at this moment, he will come back.