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7 hours ago
6
Key events
72km to go: What was the highlight of Fred Wright’s rest day?
“I had a Magnum with caramel, the one with two layers,” says the Pinarello–Q36.5 Pro Cycling rider. “The rest day went pretty quickly as they always do.”
73km to go: Vervaeke and Heally have dropped Higuita.
74km to go: Romo attacks Tejada! The famous duo has split!
74.5km to go: “My God, they are doing a magnificent job to hold it at this,” Kelly says of the UAE Team Emirates riders working at the front of the peloton to control the gap.
One of them is Nils Pollitt. He is an absolute machine.
75km to go: The gap between the bunch and the two leaders is 1min 27sec. Very much striking distance for Pogacar.
75km to go: It’s all uphill now until the official start of the Col de la Griffoul.
Back in the peloton, UAE are massed at the front, with Pogacar riding about six or seven back. There can be no doubt about the strongest team in this race.
77km to go: Tejada and Romo, Romo and Tejada. They are working together really well and aren’t showing any interest in easing up and letting those three chasers join forces with them.
78km to go: Tejada and Romo’s advantage has been reduced to about 20sec.
The chasers Higuita, Vervaeke and Healy are not playing around, they want to get in the front group, they can sniff the chance of a stage win.
80km to go: “This is a charming area and not often visited,” offers Carlton Kirby from the commentary booth.
“No, I don’t think it’s a charming area,” replies Sean Kelly. “Having had experience of racing here … I have bad memories, I don’t really like this area of France.”
82km to go: The riders are flyyyyyyying at the front on a fast downhill section. Not literally, but they are moving fast.
The next climb is in the offing: The Col de la Griffoul, category two, 5.9km long, average gradient 6.7%.
84km to go: Bronagh emails: “Wasn’t “Tejada & Romo” a short-lived detective series about a down-at-heel cop and his bear companion?”
Brilliant.
85km to go: Healy, Vervaeke and Higuita have counterattacked and are trying to get across to the leaders, Tejada and Romo.
86km to go: The official feed has just dropped the details of the past 10 Bastille Day stages. Here they are:
2025. Ennezat > Le Mont-Dore - Puy de Sancy. Simon Yates, Great Britain
2024. Loudenvielle > Plateau de Beille. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia
2023. Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne > Grand Colombier. Michal Kwiatkoswki, Poland
2022. Briançon > Alpe d’Huez. Tom Pidcock, Great Britain
2021. Muret > Saint-Lary-Soulan - Col du Portet. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia
2020. Tour raced in September
2019. Saint-Étienne > Brioude. Daryl Impey, South Africa
2018. Dreux > Amiens Métropole. Dylan Groenewegen, the Netherlands
2017. Saint-Girons > Foix. Warren Barguil, France
2016. Montpellier > Chalet Reynard. Thomas De Gendt, Belgium
2015. Tarbes > La Pierre Saint-Martin. Chris Froome, Great Britain
87km to go: The group second on the road consists of 23 riders. You can keep tabs on things via the official race centre, if you wish.
88km to go: The bunch rides past a bunch … of cows.
Tejada and Romo have 45sec.
89km to go: Tejada is 26th on GC, 22min 54sec down.
Romo is 61st, 1hr 14min down.
90km to go: Tejada and Romo have 45sec on the chasers, it says here.
91km to go: Harold Tejada sounds like a jobbing 1980s Hollywood actor.
Didn’t he have a minor role in Beverly Hills Cop II?
94km to go: Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana) and Javier Romo (Movistar) have attacked at the front. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) was there, but dropped back.
The TV graphics say the leaders have 42sec.
97km to go: The lead group is down to 26 riders.
98km to go: Another crash in the bunch. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) took two KOM points on the Côte de Pailherols. Louis Vervaeke, his teammate, took one point.
98.5 to go: Arensman fancies it today, and leads up the first categorised climb.
99km to go: Guyonnet, Frigo, Guernalec and Haller dropped by the front group.
99km to go: The gap is being held at a minute.
99km to go: French fans celebrate a big day.
100km to go: The gap is 1min.
On the radio, the UAE Team Emirates sports directors say this situation is “perfect”.
Girmay has been dropped by the peloton. Alaphilippe is back there too, a group of 22 riders who are 2min 20sec behind the bunch.
100km to go: The front group is breaking up on the climb. At the moment, Guyonnard is the only one dropped, I think. So it’s 30 riders:
Jegat, Debruyne, Tejada, Arensman, Ion Izagirre, Vauqelin, Baudin, Higuita, Garcia, V Paret-Peintre, Hirschi, O’Connor, Braz Afonso, Van der Poel, Gregoire, Romo, Zimmerman, Cepeda, Vervaeke, Abrahamsen, Plapp, Healy, Wright, Frigo, Guernalec, Haller, Velasco, Nicolau, Thomas, Azparren.
103km to go: The gap is 49sec.
104km to go: Van der Poel winning this stage would be a power move. He obviously fancies it, if he’s in the front group.
If Van Aert could win on a double ascent of Mont Ventoux …
104km to go: The Côte de Pailherols is 3km long with an average gradient of 7.2%. It’s uphill for a while before that, too.
105km to go: The break now has 46sec. So while UAE Team Emirates are obviously looking to control at the front of the bunch, they were not trying to shut it down.
106km to go: A crash in the bunch. A few riders down including Kamil Gradek (Bahrain Victorious) and Jake Stewart (NSN) … at first glance it doesn’t look too bad for anyone, thankfully.
107km to go: Thyman Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos) and Ben Healy (EF Education–EasyPost) would be decent bets for the stage if this group can stay away.
107km to go: Front group: Jegat, Debruyne, Tejada, Arensman, Ion Izagirre, Vauqelin, Guyonnet, Baudin, Higuita, Garcia, V Paret-Peintre, Hirschi, O’Connor, Braz Afonso, Van der Poel, Gregoire, Romo, Zimmerman, Cepeda, Vervaeke, Abrahamsen, Plapp, Healy, Wright, Frigo, Guernalec, Haller, Velasco, Nicolau, Thomas, Azparren.
