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Just two days ago it looked like the big suspense would be the Tour de France’s fight for first and second overall.
Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar were so tightly matched that the 2023 Tour de France seemed to be shaping up much like that of 1989. That tightly-balanced race has since spun the way of Vinegaard.
It is now the tussle for third that holds the most uncertainty in advance of Paris.
Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers), Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) are all within 2:05 of each other and with one more big mountain stage to come on Saturday, the final step on the podium could go in any one of four directions.
Simon Yates was the day’s big mover on Wednesday, shrugging off several stages where he appeared to be running out of gas. He jumped up three places to fifth overall after infiltrating the day’s key breakaway group and then pushing forward towards the end to net second on the stage behind Felix Gall (Ag2r Citroën).
Yates chased Gall all the way to the line after the Swiss rider made his move on the Col de la Loze, the highest peak in this year’s race.
“He did a fantastic ride so chapeau to him,” he said. “I couldn’t catch him. I was hoping to maybe catch him on the descent but I was pretty cross eyed, so it was hard to navigate the course.”
Yates said a lot of credit was due to his Jayco AlUla teammates.
“We really wanted to try and go after the stage today. All the guys have been extremely fantastic,” he stated. “We had Lawson Cradock driving the breakaway all day, and then Chris Harper to raise the pace and pace me in the final. Both guys did a spectacular job so chapeau to them.”
The net effect was that Yates gained 3:09 over his brother Adam who, on the opening day of the Tour in Bilbao, had dropped him to win stage one. They are now just 1:34 apart and with Pogačar looking to bounce back and win stage 20, Adam Yates could find himself playing a team role on Saturday.
Simon Yates’ progress will worry stage 14 winner Carlos Rodríguez, who suffered on the road to Courchevel and finished back in 15th place.
He surrendered 4:54 to Gall and 4:20 to Yates, and will be concerned at his weakening towards the end of what is just the second grand tour of his career.
“Adam has been strong,” he said when referring to the other Yates brother who bumped him down to fourth overall in the stage 16 time trial, who started Wednesday’s stage just five seconds ahead, and who then took 1:11 out of him. “We have tried to do our best. I have to be happy because I gave everything at the finish line.”
Although Rodríguez will leave the Tour with a stage win to his credit, he also wants a place on the podium in Paris. He has a clear reminder of how fast things can change in the race, having jumped up to third overall following his stage win on Saturday, then sliding one place to fourth after Tuesday’s TT.
He now has a Yates brother in front of and behind him, with Simon poised just 18 seconds back.
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorous), who started the day seventh overall, also made it into the day’s break and is lurking only 49 seconds behind a podium spot.
Rodríguez will try to stay as safe as possible on the largely flat stage 18 to Bourg-en-Bresse and the tougher stage 19 to Poligny, then put in as strong a ride as possible on Saturday.
He’s hopeful that things will work out well, but also knows that there are no guarantees in a three week race. Form can ebb and flow, and near-certainties can evaporate as tiredness sets in.
“Today we have seen Tadej having a bad day. You never know who can fail,” he said, according to Ciclo21.com. “I hope it’s not me. We’ll see. Saturday’s stage is quite tough, we will try. I have to be happy with how I’m doing things.”
The Link LonkJuly 20, 2023 at 02:39PM
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Tour de France's race for third place becoming increasingly hard to predict - Outside Magazine
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