Here’s Jeremy Whittle’s stage report:
Ultimately a very exciting finish … but also very disappointing for anyone hoping that Mark Cavendish would make history today with his 35th Tour de France stage win. He came very, very close but an issue with his gears meant he lost crucial speed when he was at the front, and closing in a repeat of his Bordeaux victory in 2010. Thanks for reading, emailing, tweeting etc. … and see you soon for more.
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Mark Cavendish speaks to Matt Stephens on Eurosport about the final sprint: “I was in quite a good position. It looked like I was far back, but I was OK, in where I wanted to be. It’s a long, straight finish. [Teammate] Cees [Bol] had moved me up with good speed into the last kilometre. I was on the right wheels.
“I kicked a little earlier than I’d like, but actually, still about the same time as I did in 2010. … Once I kicked, I started, the gears jumped from the 11 to the 12, I had to sit down. Cadence just whacks up. Then it goes back to the 11th, I tried to stand up. I needed to sit down. There was nothing you could do except, like, kind of hope.
“I’m bitterly disappointed there. Really majorly disappointed. But we keep on trying … we can be positive.”
What’s the difference between racing now and in 2008? “Most of the people racing then are maybe granddads now [Laughs] … What can I do? I’m sorry I can’t be a bit more positive about it. I’m bitterly disappointed.”
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Mads Pedersen (Trek–Segafredo) speaks to Eurosport: “We did a decent job. But I chose the wrong side to pass Mathieu [on the finish straight]. I had to stop, and go again, and lost all momentum. It was a stupid mistake. Another chance tomorrow … the Tour’s not over.”
Pogacar speaks to ITV: “Another day ticked off … we were flying in the last 30, 40km.”
He is then asked if being second in GC is better than first, at this early stage of the race.
“I think yes.”
In the end, with the one-man break becoming a three-man break, it was an exciting end to the stage that had begun so quietly. Peters and Latour put up a great fight when they escape group was down to two.
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On ITV, Marcel Kittel is on pundit duty with Peter Kennaugh. No one on their panel seems to be suggesting any mechanical or other issue for Cavendish, they think he just knew he was beaten by the faster man, and that was why he appeared to admit defeat before they got to the finish line.
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We’ll have Jeremy Whittle’s stage report coming up shortly. And I’ll bring you as much reaction as possible.
Michael Morkov, lead-out man for Soudal–Quick-Step, speaks: “It was a big mess. It was difficult to keep Fabio [Jaksoben] with me … I didn’t see the sprint, myself … Fabio looked really good today and we had confidence in him.”
Jakobsen was 15th.
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Waiting/hoping to hear from Cavendish …
🇫🇷 RESULT: @LeTour
— Astana Qazaqstan Team (@AstanaQazTeam) July 7, 2023
It was close this time… second place 🥈 for @markcavendish#TDF2023 #AstanaQazaqstanTeam
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Looking at the overhead video again, it definitely appears that Cavendish had some kind of mechanical issue when he was in front. He seemed to sit down from a full-one sprint and lose speed once he went past Philipsen et al and appeared to have the finish line at his mercy.
Meanwhile, here’s a video from the finish straight:
🏆🇧🇪 Jasp3r Philips3n wins in @Bordeaux!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 7, 2023
🏆🇧🇪 Le triplé pour @JasperPhilipsen à @Bordeaux !#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/GfDCDKn4EW
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Philipsen speaks, wearing the green jersey. “I’m super happy and proud … I was always in a good wheel … I never had to do a big effort before I launched my sprint … I can’t believe it. If you’d told me this one week ago [three stages] I’d have said you’re crazy. So far, it’s a dream tour … from now on, I am looking to Paris also.”
On Cavendish: “He was really strong, I would also have loved to see him win … I think everybody … but for sure he will keep on trying, he’s up there, he’s in good condition.”
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Did Cavendish have a problem with his gears?
Looked like Cav had a problem with his gears or something, he seemed to kick/jump with about 200m to go and then seemed to be spinning in too small a gear at the finish
— Ian (@cyclingbetting) July 7, 2023
When Cavendish emerged, seemingly from nowhere, to hit the front, my eyes popped out of my head. It was there for him. Adam Blythe, a Eurosport pundit, thinks he may have had a mechanical. It did seem like Cavendish admitted defeat early. But perhaps that was simply that he knew Philipsen had superior pace. Hopefully we’ll hear from him soon …
Stage seven result
1. Jasper Philipsen
2. Mark Cavendish
3. Biniam Girmay
4. Luca Mozzato
5. Dylan Groenewegen
Jonas Vingegaard keeps the yellow jersey.
On Eurosport commentary, Sean Kelly says Cavendish did everything right, but Philipsen was just too strong. And that is right. It was such a brilliant sprint by Cavendish. Perhaps he may feel that he could have jumped a bit later, and not given Philipsen enough road to recover. But that is all too easy to say from here. He saw his chance and went for it. And he nearly, so nearly became the leading stage winner in Tour de France history …
That was insane. But ultimately so disappointing for Cavendish … he appeared to be totally out of position with about 800m to go. But the Manxman emerged on the right-hand side of the road, and surged into the lead with perhaps 100m remaining … it looked like Cavendish was going to clinch it, but Philipsen then got in his slipstream, and accelerated past him for his third win of the race. Heartbreak for Cavendish, and for any of us who were hoping he’d make history today.
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Jasper Philipsen wins stage seven! Agony for Cavendish!
Oh my. Cavendish so nearly had it …
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1.5km to go: Not sure where Cavendish is but he does not appear to be prominent. I think he’s about 20th wheel.
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2km to go: A long, sweeping right-hander. Thankfully the bunch got through that technical section with no mishaps.
3.5km to go: Latour is caught. Jumbo-Visma are up front. Vingegaard is second wheel. Which is surprising, a bit, if the “3km” rule was at 3.6km. They are well inside that now.
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4km to go: Aaaaaand it’s 4sec for Latour. It’s about to be back together.
6km to go: Van Aert has been dropped by the bunch. At the front, Latour drops Peters and strikes out alone, on what looks to be a doomed attempt to stay away. Peters in fact gives him a little pat on the back as he heads off alone. I am not sure if Peters had a mechanical there. Anyway, Latour is giving it everything, smashing his feet on the pedals.
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7km to go: Who will be popping the champagne at dinner tonight? Nerves are doubtless rising among the Cavendish fans everywhere …
8km to go: The peloton negotiates a roundabout, culminating in a left-hand turn on the road to Bordeaux, just 10sec for the break now.
9km to go: Now 17sec for the bunch. We’ll be all back together in a little while … The TV helicopter overs over the Garonne.
This is the 81st time that the Tour de France has visited Bordeaux, second only to Paris.
10km to go: Ramon Sinkeldam puts in a monster turn at the front of the bunch for Alpecin–Deceuninck. He flicks his right elbow and asks someone else to come through. The gap is still falling, but not all that fast. It’s 27sec now. Chapeau to the duo up front, but they are going to get reeled in.
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13km to go: It looks pan flat on the stage profile but Carlton Kirby reliably informs us on Eurosport that this stretch of the route is not, in fact, pan flat. You can see indeed that the road is going up and down a touch.
Anyway, one of the Eurosport reporters who is by the finish says there are some cobbles, and a speed bump to deal with, and that it’s “like an oven” in Bordeaux.
The gap is 33sec. The days for this break are numbered.
16km to go: Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) does a big turn in front of his fellow breakaway rider, Nans Peters (AG2R Citroën).
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18km to go: The gap is down to 40”. Lotto Dstny riders are now more visible at the front of the bunch, working for Caleb Ewan.
21km to go: The camera focuses on the two-man break, Peters and Latour, giving it everything to try and stay away. There are two sharp right-hand turns coming up with about 3km to go: the route runs alongside the Garonne river in Bordeaux, sharp right, sharp right again, over the bridge and along the opposite side …
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23km to go: The gap is 1min 06sec. The peloton just wound its way around a big right-hander. Alpecin–Deceuninck continue to set a fiery pace at the front. Astana Qazaqstan are lined out on the left-hand side of the road, nice and prominent in the peloton. Plenty of work to do yet …
#ChateauWatch, courtesy of Felix Lowe on Twitter:
🏰Chateau!🏰
— Felix Lowe (@saddleblaze) July 7, 2023
You may (or may not) recognise this one from the smash film, Fantômas Contre Scotland Yard - the third in the instalment of French films designed to tap into the James Bond phenomenon in the 60s. Six towers plus one keep, so... 7/10 #ChateauWatch pic.twitter.com/b3kRGZzQ5S
25km to go: 1min 11sec is the gap. This is a very impressive ride from Latour and Peters, they are making the sprinters’ teams toil.
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28km to go: The gap seems to be undulating. It was sub-1min, now it’s 1min 14sec. It’s pan-flat, more or less, between here and the finish line, but plenty of twisting and turning on the way. And a tricky sharp bend or two, over a bridge, with 3km remaining. Alpecin–Deceuninck are now the team powering away at the front of the peloton.
30km to go: “Jumbo were breaking wind for Jonas, going uphill at a pace they hoped would break every rider except Jonas, including Poggi,” emails Pete, re: yesterday. “Poggi was benefiting from the windbreak as much as Jonas but Jumbo thought Jonas would again be stronger than Poggi after both Jumbo domestiques burnt out.
“Jumbo miscalculated.”
Yes. Exactement. Thanks Pete.
Right, stage seven, then. The gap is 1min 15sec. Don’t do anything silly, sprinters’ teams. Get these fellas back. It’s a two-man break, Latour and Peters.
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33km to go: “Obviously,” emails Chris, “if Jonas defends the yellow everyone else is Avant-Vingegaard.”
Like it, Chris. Although isn’t Vingegaard Avant-Vingegaard (ie before everyone else)?
35km to go: The tension in the peloton is visibly rising. The bunch is tightly packed, occupying all the space available across the width of the winding road. And the pace appears to be increasingly furious. The gap is still 1min 10sec, so the breakaway isn’t exactly going at an un-furious pace.
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Cavendish, speaking to Eurosport earlier: “It’s another opportunity … it’s been nice to be in Bordeaux before. I won in 2010, so we’ll try and do the same today … It’s a nice boulevard sprint, just how I like it. We’ll see what happens.
“It’s just about staying up there. To put it simply. It’s about staying up there. The problem is all the sprinters teams and GC teams want to stay up there too. It’s going to take a lot of effort.”
39km to go: The break hits the solitary climb on today’s stage. The category four at the Côte de Béguey. Latour and Peters push on together, battling for the points, with Guglielmi, understandably, unable to keep pace. The gap is 1min 05sec.
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42km to go: The gap is 45sec. The pace is hot, hot, hot.
On that note:
“Saludos! From Miami Florida,” emails Jose. “To quote rock and roll hall of fame band “The Cure” (who played Miami a few nights ago), it’s “Hot, Hot, Hot!””
Is that a number by The Cure? You live and learn. Thanks for getting in touch Jose.
Here’s “A Forest” without, annoyingly, the intro in all its glory:
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44km to go: “I was disappointed to see no one take the bait earlier on the Bauhaus/design pun,” emails James.
You and me both, mate.
“Might we have a Wout Van Aert Nouveau vainqeur today?” James continues.
“Or a comic book win from Danny Van Der Poppel Art?
“Or maybe Gianni MosConstructivism will be involved in the build up?”
Excellent. Excellent.
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45km to go: “Vingegaard can have his teammates hold a wattage that works for him but might tire Pogacar,” writes James.
“Pogacar can’t really attack, as Vingegaard has two teammates to help him chase Pogacar down, so it wouldn’t be 1 v 1. So it effectively neutralises Pogacar and keeps Jumbo in total control.”
Also true, although riders in the class of Pogacar can ‘freelance’ with other groups and gain benefit from riding with them.
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50km to go: Inside 50km to go then and the pace is going to be nice and hot from hereon-in. The front of the peloton is bunched, fanned across the road, the gap is 1min 11sec. Cavendish, I understand, is still trying to get back in touch after that wheel change. Not a great sign? Or a nice little warm-up?
Regarding the question from Gordon (Pogacar, Jumbo Visma, etc.), Daniel emails:
“My limited understanding is that there is still a decent enough drafting benefit gained by sitting in the wheels at the speeds they are going uphill (not so much for us mortals). Particularly as the final climb yesterday was a relatively modest average 5.2% and top-weighted so the gradients on the first KMs were even less severe.”
Thanks Daniel, yes absolutely, the first thing I was going to mention was the drafting benefit, which is still significant on the climbs if not as pronounced as on the flat. There is also a psychological benefit riding in a group, even if in theory that group is trying to drop you (although of course you need to be as strong as Pogacar is, for that to apply …)
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54km to go: Good stat from the official Tour site. There are five men in today’s peloton from the riders that visited Bordeaux back in 2010, the last time the race came to the city.
Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Doimo, now with TotalEnergies), Dries Devenyns (Quick Step), Rui Costa (then Caisse d’Epargne, now Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Edvald Boasson Hagen (then Sky, now TotalEnergies) and of course Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia, now Astana).
56km to go: Cavendish needs a wheel change. He stops briefly at the side of the road, and is now in the cars, chasing back to the bunch.
56km to go: Van der Poel had a chat with Eurosport earlier today and was asked about his work to set up Jasper Philipsen: “We have a goal with the green jersey. I am happy to help with it. Trust is the most important thing (with Philipsen in the lead-outs). He trusts me, and I’m taking risks … if he wins it’s nice. Otherwise the sprint stages are without a goal. I don’t know if I would sprint, if I didn’t do the lead-out for him. It makes it interesting for me.”
Meanwhile, the gap is 1min 05 sec.
60km to go: The gap has gone out to 1min 10sec. The sprinters’ teams are happy to give this three-man break a bit of rope. Thus ensuring they don’t have to cover any further attacks, should the race all come back together. It’s all nice and controlled, but which team’s sprinter is going to find the biggest gear and the biggest power?
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62km to go: With regards to Pogacar and Jumbo-Visma yesterday, Gordon has emailed the following. Would anyone like to email in with your thoughts/answers? Thanks.
“I’m maybe missing something, but I don’t understand how, say four members of one team riding with one member of another team is an advantage? If they all start together at the base of a climb and then are still all together at a point 5km up the climb, then surely they’ve all expended the same amount of energy? Regardless of who is trying to pull away in the front, the one rider from the other team is still able to save energy as much as any of the others by being part of the group?”
67km to go: The pace is increasing, but it could hardly have decreased following a sleepy start. It’s going to be a flat-out conclusion to the stage, on which note, the riders’ union have been in negotiations with ASO, and it has been agreed that the “3km rule” will in fact come into force with 3.6km to go instead.
This is to avoid a bottleneck at one or two sharp bends that come with around 3km to go … (For the uninitiated, the 3km rule means that if anyone crashes inside that distance, they do not lose time in the general classification – they get the same time as the main bunch. This means it is safer overall, allowing the sprinters’ teams to fight for the win, while the GC teams do not need to worry about their contender or contenders losing time in the final kilometres of a sprint stage.)
Today, on behalf of the riders we have requested the jury of commissaires to obtain the last 3 KLM rule at 3klm600 before 2 tricky bends. Thank you @UCI_cycling and @LeTour for accepting our request for the safety of the riders 🙏👏👏#SafetyFirst pic.twitter.com/YrTgLxzjQv
— CPA Cycling (@cpacycling) July 7, 2023
At Headingley, Australia are batting again. This is not good news for the England fans out there.
74km to go: Action! We’ve got three riders at the front, suddenly. Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Nans Peters (AG2R-Citroën) have joined forces with Simon Guglielmi at the front, capitalising on the way the gap was closed after that intermediate sprint.
The gap between what is now a three-man break and the peloton is a mere 24sec.
Guglielmi must be happy to have a couple of buddies up there with him. That was a mammoth effort to ride solo for near enough 100km on his own.
💪 After the intermediate sprint @NansPeters and @p_latour launch a counter-attack.
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 7, 2023
💪 Après le sprint intermédiaire, @NansPeters et @p_latour lancent une contre-attaque.#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/dp2yxFvg0C
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Intermediate sprint results at Grignols:
1. Simon Guglielmi, 20 pts
2. Biniam Girmay, 17 pts
3. Jasper Philipsen, 15 pts
4. Bryan Coquard, 13 pts
5. Jordi Meeus, 11 pts
6. Mads Pedersen, 10 pts
7. Corbin Strong, 9 pts
8. Alexander Kristoff, 8 pts
9. Mark Cavendish, 7 pts
10. Mikkel Bjerg, 6 pts
11. Alexis Renard, 5 pts
12. Tadej Pogacar, 4 pts
13. Matteo Trentin, 3 pts
14. Marc Soler, 2 pts
15. Kevin Vermaerke, 1 pt
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80km to go: The gap plunged to about 45sec then, due to the sprint behind. Now it’s growing again.
Girmay wins sprint for second place at the intermediate
After the lone attacker Gugielmi rolls through the sprint point, the Eritrean fast man Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) wins the dash for the line from the chasing pack. Philipsen and Pedersen were there too. Full results to follow.
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82km to go: Gap: 1min 45 sec. And down to 1min 38 sec as Gugielmi rolls through on his own.
82km to go: The gap has snuck under two minutes. The pace in the chasing bunch has picked up as the sprinters’ teams get themselves organised for the sprint in Grignols …
Stage five in 2008 was Cavendish’s first Tour victory:
Stage eight was Cavendish’s second win. Here’s the top 10 on that day – Hushovd, Chavanel, Zabel – legends of the sport. Surely none of them would have believed that Cavendish would still be going strong 15 years later?
1. Mark Cavendish (Britain / Columbia ) 4 hrs 2 mins 54 secs
2. Gerald Ciolek (Germany / Columbia ) “
3. Jimmy Casper (France / Agritubel ) “
4. Oscar Freire (Spain / Rabobank ) “
5. Robert Foerster (Germany / Gerolsteiner ) “
6. Erik Zabel (Germany / Milram ) “
7. Gert Steegmans (Belgium / Quick-Step ) “
8. Sebastien Chavanel (France / Francaise des Jeux ) “
9. Thor Hushovd (Norway / Credit Agricole ) “
10. Robert Hunter (South Africa / Barloworld ) all same time
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90km to go: Gap: 2min 46sec.
Another long, straight, hot road. Cavendish is in the peloton somewhere. It’s exciting to think that he has a chance write himself into Tour de France history today, more than he already has done … it’s quite easy to lose sight of the fact that when he started winning stages, all the way back in 2008, British cyclists had enjoyed comparatively little success in the world’s biggest bike race.
They mentioned in commentary earlier that it’s the 16th anniversary of Cavendish’s debut in this race, 2007, when the Tour started in London.
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91km to go: Guglielmi now has 8km until he reaches the intermediate sprint at Grignols. He is on course to take maximum points there … and then the real sprinters will duke it out for second place.
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92km to go: Apparently there is a 55% chance of thunderstorms today in the Bordeaux region. Thunder, lightning and rain would certainly spice things up.
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93km to go. Gap between peloton and the solo escapee, Simon Guglielmi, is 2min 41sec.
Don’t forget! You can also follow the cricket –
And the tennis –
94km to go: The gap keeps falling. 2min 32sec now.
On Eurosport Gilbert says he reckons Philipsen will win today, because he has the best lead-out guy, in the form of Mathieu van der Poel. A simple theory but one that I fancy will stand the test of time …
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I am sure this is true. Well, I am sure I don’t have it exactly right - I was limited to highlights viewing yesterday as opposed to watching the whole stage.
@LukeMcLaughlin I think Pogacar did a bit more than "hang on" yesterday. He was clearly comfortable sat on Vingegaard's wheel, responded immediately when attacked on the Tourmalet, and only got out of his saddle in that final attack two km from the finish.
— Liam Faulkner (@quinny265) July 7, 2023
97km to go: The intermediate sprint is coming up pretty soon. In 15km to be exact. The gap is 2min 41sec. The chasers are continuing to whittle away at the advantage of our lone escapee.
“It’s a really hot day,” says Gilbert on the Eurosport motorbike. “A lot of riders are speaking to each other … it’s quite relaxed … it’s an easy day, but still riders are suffering from the heat.”
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98km to go: The gap has fallen to 2min 52sec.
Harking back to that Chambery story and the disco train carriage, Alex writes: “As an avid rider of trains in Romania ca. 1995/96, far and away the most stressful was the summertime, all-windows-closed (no AC, mind) due to folk superstition car.”
101km to go: Cavendish is pictured rolling along in the bunch. He looks supremely relaxed, while of course, focused. Cavendish sticks his tongue out, smiles, and then sticks two fingers up at the camera, although pointing in the direction that signifies “Peace”. On Eurosport commentary Carlton Kirby reckons it’s “V” for victory. Either way, Cavendish is looking chilled.
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102km to go: The gap is holding at just over 3min.
“For all the talk of Jumbo Visma’s tactics yesterday they would have been talked about as “brilliant” and one for the ages if Vinegaard had been able to leave Pogacar yesterday,” writes Martin from Houston, Texas. “That is what I thought would happen after it was apparent that was the goal for the day as opposed to the safety of simply marking Pogacar. It didn’t and that is what makes watching sports so enjoyable. Hats off to Jumbo Visma for trying to close the door and to Pogacar to run “brilliantly” through it. What a competition this has been and the question is still who will win.”
103km to go: The gap is 3min 09sec.
On Eurosport, Matt Stephens asks Wout van Aert if he is planning to go for the stage win today: “I don’t think so. Tomorrow is a more suitable sprint for me, when the stage will be harder. I think it’s time to back up a little bit today.”
And as for yesterday’s excitement:
“You always need to be prepared to that [Pogacar to counterattack] … but we saw how strong Jonas was the day before, so I think it’s normal we really went for it, and gave it a go. It turned out this way, but like you say, we’re in yellow and we’re in a good place.”
That was recorded before the stage, perhaps needless to say.
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105km to go: “Bonjour, I think this is the stage,” writes Antony in an email titled The Isle of Man man. “Bordeaux, big traditional Tour de France sprint finish city, previous winner, clocking fast speeds at present.
“Although my actual real money, a whole 50p, is on Bauhaus, because £8 can soften the blow if so.”
Yes, I’m sure Bauhaus has designs on the victory.
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108km to go: The gap is 3min 22sec. Guglielmi has still got his head down, working hard, putting plenty of power through those pedals.
On Eurosport Jonathan Harris-Bass, who is a bit of a wine buff, says he’s not a particular fan of Bordeaux. Neither am I as it happens. Southern Rhône is where it’s really at, yeah?
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“Good luck to Mark Cavendish of course, but here the excitement is building up in advance of the Tour rolling past my front door on Sunday,” writes Damian on email.
“I’ve managed to dodge marshalling duties - two volunteers still needed apparently - and I can concentrate on marinading the leg of pork for the BBQ. The village is filling up with camping cars and there is palpable nervousness about how long it will take to get served a beer in the three bars tomorrow. The buvette on Sunday afternoon should be fine however.
“The village fete season is kicking off 4km down the road at Bromont Lamothe, I’m sure that any of your readers will be welcome over the whole weekend there (as indeed they are here …)”
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The Tour stage I mentioned earlier, when it was Jérôme Cousin out front on his own, was in 2020. Stage three from Nice to Sisteron.
“I suspected a battle for the polka dot jersey in the breakaway we had,” Cousin said afterwards. “When they sat up, I kept going as a mark of respect to the Tour de France, and we never know what can happen.”
Caleb Ewan won the stage.
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116km to go: Guglielmi gets out of his saddle and powers along a long, hot, straight road.
That’s it, really.
117km to go: Temperatures in Bordeaux are forecast to peak at 33C today. Very warm, although manageable from the riders’ point of view. It will be hotter than that on the road, of course.
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118km to go: “Hi Luke, I agree with you,” writes William. “Jumbo set out to get a proper stomp in a big effort to break and eliminate a rival. It didn’t go 100% to plan, mainly due to the thrilling heroics, not just at the last, but all the times Pogacar was hanging in there.
“However, such an effort from the Big P will have come at a cost and from Van Aert ‘s point of view his cousin Vinnie [Vingegaard] might still have enough of a buffer for a day for Wout.”
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121km to go: There is one categorised climb, the category-four Côte de Béguey, that comes after 131km of racing.
Lotto Dstny are lined out at the front of the peloton. The gap is 3min 54sec. Do they want to bring this back before the intermediate sprint, I wonder?
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122km to go: Today’s intermediate sprint comes at Grignols, after 88km of racing. With just one man up front, that is naturally going to mean a bun-fight among the sprinters to mop up some points. We’ve still got roughly 39km to go until then, but I suppose Lotto Dstny and the other sprinters’ teams are already focused on getting themselves in position.
123km to go: The gap is down to 3min 53sec with 123km to go.
“G’day Luke,” writes Jared.
“An Aussie living in Grenoble, just down the road from Chambery, following along from the office, with the Ashes OBO open in the next tab over. If you’re fond of a mixed drink the vermouth from Dolin, based in Chambery is worth a taste.”
Vermouth, lovely stuff, that is. Thanks Jared, and congratulations on the cricket. Are we going to need a new urn, for the ashes of Bazball? (While we’re on the subject, McCullum has basically said Bazball doesn’t exist and the word is ‘silly’. I’m not sure what that means for the ongoing debate?)
Geoff Lemon has the cricket here, anyway:
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130km to go: The gap is 4min 09sec.
If you are just joining us, there was a four-man break early on, that very quickly became a one-man break when three riders dropped back (somewhat strangely) to the bunch. Simon Guglielmi (Arkea-Samsic) was the last man standing, or riding, and after some lengthy discussions on the radio with his team, the decision was taken that he would plough on alone. He didn’t look overly happy about it.
Behind, the rest of the peloton almost ground to a halt, and Guglielmi’s lead flew out to 7min 30sec at one point. Lotto Dstny and others have now taken it up on the front of the bunch, and the gap is back down to around 4min.
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I think the theory below gives Jumbo-Visma too much credit for yesterday. They were riding to distance Pogacar, failed, and then failed to tweak their tactics when it became apparent they weren’t going to drop him.
I also think the idea that it was a tactical masterclass by Pogacar, that I’ve seen elsewhere, is rather OTT. He simply clung on as best he could, and then happened to have better legs than Vingegaard on the final climb and saw an opportunity to attack.
Granted, a happy by-product of Jumbo-Visma’s approach is that they ended up putting time in to everyone else bar Pogacar … but there is so much racing to come, it’s too early to suggest it’s a head to head, even with the big time gaps that opened up.
Got to disagree re the Jumbo tactics @LukeMcLaughlin. They've more or less made it a head-to-head between their man and Pog for the GC with everyone else a sideshow.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 7, 2023
Not without some justification, they like the odds of JV, WvA and SK vs TP over a fortnight or more.
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134km to go: The gap has plunged to 4min 29sec. More than one team are working on the front to pull it back. I wonder how long they will keep working. Obviously this isn’t through genuine fear that a one-man break could stay away to the finish. But perhaps this stage will be more complex than a simple break, catch, sprint, if they keep narrowing that gap …
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136km: I’ve been to Chambery, where Guglielmi was born. In fact, I once narrowly failed to get off a train there. It was the overnight train from Paris that featured a bar/disco carriage. As a result everyone was asleep when we rolled into Chambery early the next morning, and the holiday rep felt obliged to pull the alarm cord in order to get everyone off the train before it left. Any other Chambery stories? Get in touch on email or tweet @LukeMcLaughlin
137km to go: Lotto-Density, as I just decided to call them, are working really hard on the front of the peloton now. It’s strung out at the front, and the gap is down to 5min 08sec.
138km to go: I’m not sure that “complicated” is the right word for a one-man break on a stage of 169.9km. “Tiring” might be closer to it.
138km to go: On Eurosport they are having a quick chat with someone from Arkea-Samsic, the team of Guglielmi, our lone escapee.
“It’s going to be a complicated day for him. Four riders would have been easier … but we took the decision to send him up the front, and then we decided to keep him there.”
139km to go: The gap between break and peloton is down to 5min 40sec.
142km to go: Sep Vanmarcke (Israel-Premier Tech) has retired due to cardiac issues, it was announced today. A remarkably talented rider, who won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2012, he will partly be remembered as a nearly-man in Monuments such as Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.
“When I pinned a number for the first time back in 2003, I never dared to dream about having a professional career,” Vanmarcke said. “I ended up living that dream for 14 years, with highs and lows. I wasn’t the super talent, but with dedication and hard work I was able to compete with the best riders in the biggest races for years. I got to know many people and cultures all over the world and have been to places I never heard of before.
“I would have liked to have raced at the highest level for a few more years and achieve more great performances together with IPT in the biggest races. It is very sad and painful to announce the end of my career in this way. At the same time, I am grateful that the problems with my heart were discovered in time. I’m going to take the time now to be with my family, to accept the situation and think about what I want to do in the future. My whole life has been all about cycling. Cycling will always be my passion.”
Quotes courtesy of the Israel-Premier Tech team website.
News: Sep Vanmarcke retires from professional cycling due to medical reasons
— Israel – Premier Tech (@IsraelPremTech) July 7, 2023
Since joining us in 2021, Sep has become an invaluable member of the IPT family and he always will be.
Thank you Sep for all of the memories throughout your 14-year career 💙
Read more 👉… pic.twitter.com/VxBvUEnvAV
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146km to go: Guglielmi is now 7min 10 sec ahead up front. But, back down the road, Lotto Dstny have taken up the chase.
I also saw that Cavendish interview: it was good. Cavendish looks relaxed, and really trying to soak up and enjoy this experience, as he knows it may be his last. He didn’t enjoy the climbs, of course, but I don’t think he could have asked for a better crack at today’s stage.
If it’s a very easy day I think that benefits him, too, compared to the younger sprinters who would have had more left in the tank if it was a draining day on the road to Bordeaux.
“After what were to absolutely epic stages on Wednesday and Thursday, I hope this one pulls through the flats and gives some excitement at the end,” emails David.
“Mark Cavendish was talking about racing and making the right decisions yesterday, and made the very good point that he finished within six minutes of the cut off time which was “five minutes too fast”. That raised a smile from me.
“If there aren’t any crosswinds, almost everyone is taking a slightly easier day today, I wonder how much of the scenery the peleton sees, and if they play pub cricket, or similar.”
151km to go: Cycling team sponsorship would surely be a decent option for PHP Residual Solutions.
152km to go: The lead for our lone escapee has flown out to 5min 22sec. Les jeux sont faits.
It wasn’t especially hard to predict a quiet day today, given the intensity of the racing in the Pyrenees.
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153km to go: Samsic UK is a leading provider of trusted facilities management services working across a range of sectors, including healthcare, corporate and education.
Other trusted facilities management services are available.
154km to go: The Crédit Mutuel Arkéa group comprises Crédit Mutuel Bretagne, Crédit Mutuel du Sud-Ouest and nearly 40 specialised subsidiaries. With 4.9 million member-customers, Arkéa is a major player in banking and insurance in France.
Other banks and insurers are available.
“857km of climbing? Punchy,” emails Oliver. “How many of the climbs are HC and what time are they expected to roll in to the Sea of Tranquillity?”
Silly me! It is of course 857m. Thank you for pointing that out in stylish fashion.
157km to go: The Frenchman Guglielmi is 26, and was born in Chambery. He’s never won a race – GC or stage or a one-day affair. If nothing else our lone escapee is going to bag plenty of TV time for Arkea-Samsic. Might be a good opportunity to find out who they are, and what they do.
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158km to go: Guglielmi has resigned himself to his fate. Head down, hands planted on the handlebars, he’s built an advantage of 3min 32sec. Behind, the peloton has almost come to a standstill. Sporting a fetching yellow jersey, Vingegaard rolls along at the back. He smiles, waves, and blows a kiss to the camera. A lovely day off for the peloton.
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A break of four going, then one by one, three of them drifting back to the peloton, reminded me of being in the kitchen at some parties and gradually realising I was talking to myself about cycling.
— Edward Pickering (@EdwardPickering) July 7, 2023
160km to go: A one-man breakaway will mean a slower overall speed today. That will be music to the ears of the peloton, who are knackered after the Pyrenees and some flat-out racing there. It may not be such good news for the people watching on telly …
There is 857m of climbing in total today, says Rob Hatch on Eurosport. Flat as a pancake, more or less.
Up front, Guglielmi has 2min 40sec.
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164km to go: Gary Naylor with some thoughts on Cavendish and his incredible brain:
So many top sports stars have that ability to recall a highly complex event like they're watching a movie in slo-mo @LukeMcLaughlin.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 7, 2023
To replay every point at which they could have done something different can't be conducive to a good night's sleep.
Different gravy though.
165km to go: Something a bit odd happened with the neutralised start, too. Eurosport were on an advert break when the flag dropped. One minute, there was 3km to go in the neutralised section. The next minute, they were off and racing. Anyway, we’re off. Guglielmi is riding up front. He doesn’t look happy. The escape group went from four, to three, to two, and now one.
The last one-man break I can remember was by Jérôme Cousin, maybe two or three Tours ago? Not easy.
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166km to go: This is a bit odd. Simon Guglielmi (Arkea-Samsic) is now on his own out front. He’s repeatedly on his radio, presumably asking his team if he can drop back, too. He’s not keen to stage a one-man breakaway … and who can blame him?
167km to go: There are three riders up front. Simon Guglielmi, Nelson Oliveira and Mathieu Burgeaudeau are in the lead. Jonas Abrahamsen was there but sat up. Scratch that, it’s now gone down from three to two … it looks like they might give up and drop back.
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The flag drops!
And they’re off. Predictably there are attacks immediately with three or four riders up front ahead of the peloton on a long, straight road. They have 14sec at the moment.
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On Eurosport, the on-bike reporter Philippe Gilbert says the wind in the area is steady, but not overly strong. He thinks it will be a tailwind rather than a crosswind for the most part.
The Pyrenees may be in the rearview mirror, but it’s not too late to read William Fotheringham’s piece about the huge tradition of bike racing in the Basque region:
Caleb Ewan of Lotto Dstny has a chat with Eurosport. He is asked about the point at 3km to go on today’s route, when the peloton will turn and head over a bridge. It’s being seen as a key point to be up front.
“You’ll see all the GC teams and sprint teams up there,” says Ewan. “After that it’s going to be pretty hard to move. That’s a real crucial point … I think the best thing for us will be to try to use the GC teams as much as possible … if we can use them and leave as many guys as possible for the last 3km then that will be perfect.
“I feel good. I think I got thr the mountains relatively easy. Definitely better than I was going last year, so that’s a big bonus I think.”
“Problem for Cav are his lead out team members,” emails Mike. “He clearly has no confidence in them, in the last bunch sprint finish he was leading the team to the front himself from 10km out. Shouldn’t be having to put in that much effort so far out.”
As you probably know, there were mixed emotions for Vingegaard on stage six: he moved into the yellow jersey, but lost the stage to Pogacar and saw his GC lead over the Slovenian roughly halved. The tenacious Pogacar is 26sec behind in second place overall.
On Eurosport now, the pundits are remarking on the tactical mistakes that Jumbo-Visma made yesterday. Daniel Llloyd says the team should have changed the plan once they’d failed to drop Pogacar on the Tourmalet. Certainly, it was bizarre to see them effectively ride Pogacar into the position where he could launch a stage winning-attack.
It conjured up memories of 2020, when Jumbo-Visma arguably wasted a lot of energy in riding on the front needlessly for days on end, only to see Pogacar smash Primoz Roglic in that famous final time trial.
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Green jersey-wise, Jasper Philipsen has 150pts and a very healthy 46-point lead at the top of the table. The Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter leads Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), who has 104pts, and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), with 92pts.
Here’s a shot of the Astana Qazaqstan Team fighting through the Pyrenees on the team’s official Twitter. Cav was certainly fighting on the climbs, anyway.
🇫🇷 PHOTO of the day: @LeTour
— Astana Qazaqstan Team (@AstanaQazTeam) July 6, 2023
One team = one goal. Teammates help @MarkCavendish to make it through the Pyrenees to get ready to the next sprinter stage!#TDF2023 #AstanaQazaqstanTeam
📷 @SprintCycling pic.twitter.com/mXfsAj8UMA
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“If I had anything else left to cross for Cav I would be crossing it now,” emails Jeremy. “I am so nervous already and will be in bits if he’s in the mix at the point end of the stage – there will be tears in this house if he does it. He’s going to do it today isn’t he? Go on Cav!!!”
And finally, here’s Cavendish post-stage in 2010, speaking to journalists after snaffling another Tour stage victory, while sporting that now iconic HTC-Columbia kit.
Richard Williams’ stage report from that day is here:
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Let’s rewind to 2010, the last time the Tour visited Bordeaux, when Cavendish won the stage and I happened to be in town as a fan.
I took this (bad) photo of the final sprint. Cavendish was so fast I failed to get him wholly in the shot. Look how much faster he was than everyone else!! Utter dominance.
More of the same later?
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One of the many things that’s always been impressive about Cavendish is his ability to remember the tiny details of sprint finishes he has contested – thus collecting the kind of knowledge that has cumulatively built up to make him, surely, the most tactically brilliant sprinter that has ever graced a carbon bicycle. His meticulousness and preparation is also second to none.
In my mind he’s reminiscent of Ayrton Senna, who frequently astonished his pit team with a forensic ability to analyse laps, races, and details of his car and engine.
Tactically and strategically, and of course in terms of experience, Cavendish is the best sprinter in this race. The question lingers over whether he has the genuine pace to beat the likes of Philipsen in a straight-up sprint. He did clock the highest speed of all the fast men in one of the flat-stage finishes a few days ago, so that would strongly suggest that if he is correctly positioned, he does have the gas.
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Jeremy Whittle’s report of yesterday’s thrilling stage six – Pogacar strikes back – can be found here:
If you like sport, July really is the month for you.
There is the Ashes:
There is Wimbledon:
And there’s the Tour de France, which can be found here.
Today’s stage does have a certain amount of potential to be uneventful, at least up until the flat-out approach to Bordeaux and the sprint finish.
With that in mind, you can email me or tweet @LukeMcLaughlin with any thoughts on the race.
As William Fotheringham has pointed out on Twitter, however, crosswinds may spice things up considerably. We may yet see another battle royale in the GC.
Guess it’s fair to say that in terms of Pog and Vingegaard taking chunks out of each other, first 6 days of the Tour didn’t disappoint. Let’s hope there’s no crosswind on the way to Bordeaux
— William Fotheringham (@willfoth) July 7, 2023
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Preamble
Today will conclude the Tour de France’s first week, and what a week it’s been. Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar have rocked the cycling world to its foundations by actually trying to put some time into each other and win the Tour de France. Why is everyone so surprised? This is, after all, the age Bazball (Basqueball?) where tradition counts for nothing and all-out attack is the name of the game.
Vingegaard and his Jumbo-Visma team isolated Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) on Wednesday, and the reigning champion succeeding in distancing his rival and establishing a 53sec GC lead that prompted some to opine the overall race was effectively done. Not so fast: yesterday, Jumbo-Visma again rode to pile pressure on Pogacar as the peloton toiled over the Col du Tourmalet among other Pyrenean climbs. But in the end, all they achieved was setting up the Slovenian for a devastating, trademark attack on the final climb to Cauterets-Cambasque. Vingegaard had no answer and Pogacar almost halved his time deficit. The 2020 and 2021 champion now lurks 23sec behind his Danish rival and one of the classic GC duels now appears to be in store.
With a draining trip through the Pyrenees in their legs, then, the GC riders and the peloton in general will hope for a relatively relaxed time on the way to Bordeaux this afternoon. The headline, especially for British cycling fans, is that stage seven brings a fresh chance for the Manxman, Mark Cavendish, to win his 35th Tour stage and overtake the iconic Eddy Merckx. Surprisingly perhaps, the race has not visited Bordeaux since 2010, when Cavendish scored an emphatic victory for HTC-Columbia. At that time Cavendish enjoyed the support of one of the legendary lead-out trains but reading Richard Williams’ report, it was apparently more of a freelancing job for “Cav” on that occasion.
Things are different now and young, thrusting sprinters such as Jasper Philipsen are hoovering up stage wins that would surely have been Cavendish’s a few years ago. But the 38-year-old possesses the intelligence, experience and, importantly, the speed to beat the best in the world. Could Cavendish make history today and become the leading Tour stage winner? We are about to find out.
Stage start time: 12.30pm UK / 13.30 CET
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