That was fun. Thanks for reading, emailing and tweeting today. Congratulations to Jumbo-Visma and to Jonas Vingegaard for a superbly executed plan. Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates will be determined to bounce back, of course, and it’s all set up the second half of this race beautifully.
Another nice, easy day coming up tomorrow ...
See you soon for more.
“People don’t give Vingegaard enough credit,” writes Michael Enggaard. “He finished second in his debut last year, but still this is getting framed as a bad day for Pogacar and a team victory for Jumbo. Not much credit to the guy in the yellow jersey who rode the bike himself.”
A wonderful ride by Vingegaard, no question, although as he said in his interview it was a genuine team effort, and he would never have gained that much time today without the efforts of the whole team. However, for Vingegaard to have the strength to put nearly three minutes into Pogacar - that is an incredible individual ride, within a massive team effort.
“A dramatic collapse.”
Jeremy Whittle reports on Tadej Pogacar’s bad day:
Top 10 stage ranking:
1) Vingegaard 4hr 18’02”
2) Quintana +59”
3) Bardet +1’10”
4) G Thomas +1’38”
5) Gaudu +2’04”
6) A Yates+2’10”
7) Pogacar 2’51”
8) Lutsenko 3’38”
9) Kruijswijk 3’59”
10) Barguil +4’16”
Updated
“So, Pogacar couldn’t handle the heat (in both the figurative and literal sense of the word),” emails Roland. “I wonder if anyone one mentioned that earlier on? Eh? What? Oh. Oh yes indeed.”
Vingegaard speaks after his first Tour stage win: “It’s really incredible. It’s hard for me to put words on ... yeah, this is what I dreamt of, always a stage in the Tour ... now the yellow jersey, it’s incredible.”
He stops to hug Wout van Aert and just says in disbelief – “Fucking hell!”
He comes back to continue the interview: “I mean, we made a plan from the start of the day, obviously you could see what the plan was, we wanted to make it a super-hard race, we thought it was in my favour and in favour of Primoz ... I mean, I took a lot of time today, but I would never have done that without my teammates, I really have to thank all of them, they were all incredibly strong today and I would never have done this without them.
“On the Galibier over the top he [Pogacar] was really strong, and I was bit insecure if he was going full or not ... and then on the last climb I was thinking, I mean, if I don’t try, I’m not going to win. Yeah, of course, a second place is a nice result in the GC and that’s what I did last year ... now at least I want to try and go for the victory and that’s what I did today, and luckily it succeeded today and I now I have the yellow jersey. Now I’ll keep on fighting for the yellow for Paris.”
Updated
Jumbo-Visma will enjoy their dinner tonight. UAE Team Emirates are on the back foot, but this is Tadej Pogacar we are talking about: he will be back tomorrow. The question is if they can deal with the loss of two riders (Bennett and Laengen) and the fact that Hirschi isn’t feeling himself, either.
Chapeau to Jumbo @LukeMcLaughlin! They pushed all their chips into the middle and turned up an ace on the river.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 13, 2022
Pogacar has a massive day tomorrow.
It made sense to me that Jumbo-Visma attacked as early as they did. It was a risk, but they probably felt they were unlikely to distance Pogacar on the Col du Granon if it was a quiet GC day up until then. As Daniel Lloyd just said on Eurosport, the fact that Van Aert went and brought Roglic back into the mix for the final climb was also a risk because it also meant Majka could get backin touch, and he was incredibly strong on the final climb working for Pogacar. But in the end, Pogacar ran out of gas, and presuming he is not ill or injured, that was because of all the work he had to do earlier in the stage in the face of the sustained attacking by Jumbo-Visma.
Updated
Top 10 GC after stage 11:
1) Vingegaard 41hr 29’59”
2) Bardet +2’16”
3) Pogacar +2’22”
4) Thomas +2’26”
5) Quintana +2’37”
6) Yates +3’06”
7) Gaudu +3’13”
8) Vlasov +7’23”
9) Lutsenko +8’07”
10) Kruijswijk +13’27”
A massive, massive stage of bike racing. A victory for Barguil would have been a wonderful story ... or indeed for Bardet, another home hope. Quintana also gave it a fantastic dig on the final climb to Col du Granon. But Jumbo-Visma’s tactics paid off handsomely as they started attacking early, and looked to wear down UAE Team Emirates and Pogacar.
Pogacar looked well set before the final climb and even cracked a smile to the camera, and a huge ride by Majka looked to have placed him perfectly for a late attack. But when the attacks came on final climb, Pogacar could not respond. Tremendous stuff.
I calculate that Vingegaard will be in the overall lead by about 2’13”, that’s without any bonifications ...
Updated
Here comes Pogacar: He finishes 2’52” down on Vingegaard. That is massive.
Updated
Quintana second on the stage, Bardet third, Geraint Thomas fourth ...
“A man who packed fish for a living ... he’s just landed a big one!” yells Kirby of Vingegaard.
Updated
Jonas Vingegaard wins Stage 11 and takes the yellow jersey!
Only an idiot would suggest that was anything other than epic. What a ride by Vingegaard and by Jumbo-Visma – Pogacar faded badly on the Col du Granon, and has been robbed of the race lead as a result. It was all looking so good before the final climb when he cracked a big smile to the camera. At that point it looked like he had extinguished the flames of the Jumbo-Visma fightback.
Updated
500m to go: It’s not to be for the Frenchmen - Barguil or Bardet. But what a ride from Barguil today, in particular.
1.2km to go: Fans crowd into the narrow road. Yates rides away from Pogacar! Pogacar’s head is lolling from side to side, he is trying to dig deep and limit his losses, but he has well and truly cracked! Vingegaard will take two minutes, at least, and he will be in the race lead by well over a minute at this rate.
Updated
1.5km to go: Quintana now looks a bit spent. But wouldn’t you be? Bardet is third on the road, chasing the Colombian. Pogacar and Adam Yates are a bit further behind ... Vingegaard has 1’47” on Pog and he still has some time to get even more of a gap!
2km to go: Yates is now riding with Pogacar. This is a lonely moment for the Slovenian, though, even if he has Yates for company. For the first time in a long time at the Tour de France, the two-times champion has displayed significant weakness in the face of sustained attacks from a rival GC team.
Updated
2.8km to go: Vingegaard grits his teeth and keeps pedalling. The gap keeps growing, he’s going to put (maybe) a couple of minutes into Pogacar today! Pog must be wishing George Bennett was still on the scene.
Updated
3.5km to go: Vingegaard has 50” on Pogacar! He’s riding into the yellow jersey! Jumbo-Visma’s attacking strategy has paid off. It looked like Pogacar had successfully fought them off, but he’s cracked on this final climb.
Updated
4km to go: Vingegaard goes past Barguil. Back down the road, Geraint Thomas rides with Pogacar ... and Thomas is riding away from Pogacar! I take it all back! This is amazing.
Pogacar is on his own. Vingegaard powers on up ahead. Quintana is trying to get back in touch but the Jumbo-Visma man has the bit between his teeth.
Updated
4.5km to go: Now Vingegaard attacks. Majka has the strength to try and shut it down but he can’t!
Quintana catches Barguil! Vingegaard goes past Bardet! It’s all happening now.
And it looks like Pogacar is struggling! He can’t respond to Vingegaard’s attack!
Updated
5km to go: Bardet has built a nice gap on Pogacar & Co.
Quintana looks like he’s struggling a little more. He asks for a drink but nothing is forthcoming from his team car.
5.4km to go: Barguil almost comes to a standstill. He shakes his head. Quintana ploughs on a bit further down the road. But the yellow jersey group – powered by a massive ride by Majka – is getting closer.
Romain Bardet attacks from the yellow jersey group!
Updated
5.6km to go: The pain on Barguil’s face is plain to see. The fans urge him on. Quintana is just 1’05” behind and the yellow jersey group is 1’46” back. I fancy this is Pogacar’s stage ...
Updated
6km to go: Latour is dropped by the yellow jersey group. Pogacar is preparing a big attack, isn’t he? Quintana is 1’24” behind Barguil. Will it be woe for Wawa?
6.5km to go: Quintana’s rhythm is looking a lot better than his teammate’s. Good news for Arkea-Samsic is that they should get a stage win ... but hang on a second. Majka is pictured leading Pogacar up the ascent. The Polish rider is looking strong. You sense that Barguil’s days are numbered.
7km to go: Is Barguil going to be caught? His lead is now down to 1’58” and falling. It’s going to be a long old 7km. And Quintana is looking fiendishly strong.
Barguil lost 1-30 to the yellow jersey group in the first two kilometres of the Col du Granon. It doesn't look good for the brave Breton
— Andy McGrath (@Andymcgra) July 13, 2022
Pogacar still favourite for the stage...
— Brian Smith 𝕆𝕃𝕐 (@BriSmithy) July 13, 2022
Bookies have Barguil at 10-1 in-play
Updated
8km to go: Quintana, looking supremely focused, now overtakes Latour. Latour tries to respond but Quintana is almost impossible to stay with when he’s in this mood.
It’s been a really active, exciting day, absolutely no question about that, but Pogacar’s iron grip on the race lead looks unshakeable.
Updated
8.5km to go: Barguil now has a gap of 2’32”. He is deep into the pain cave and riding really strongly ... but imagine the elation he will feel if he makes it to the finish! French cycling fans will be thrilled too. Quintana is on the move, though, and he pumps past Geschke.
9km to go: The peloton, the sixth group on the road with 138 riders, is 18’54” behind the front of the race.
9.5km to go: Roglic is gone again! He does a turn at the front on the first steep slopes but then, almost immediately, falls away again. Now Quintana has a crack while the Devil, Didi Senft, is pictured running alongside the riders.
Updated
10km to go: Roglic is back! After Van Aert dropped back to help, the Slovenian is on the front of the yellow jersey group as they begin to power up the Col du Granon. Van Aert, his work done for the day (and it was plenty of work) sits up, and will take it very, very steady up the final climb.
10.2km to go: Barguil looks to be labouring a little bit on the lower slopes. His lead on the chasers has reduced a touch but he still has 2’10”. Teuns, Geschke and Latour are the riders behind ... and as I type that Teuns is dropped.
11km to go: Hilarious. Pogacar, having been under attack all afternoon, looks to the camera and cracks a big smile and pumps his fist. Now all he needs to do to complete a fine afternoon’s work is accelerate past “Wawa” on the final climb, win the stage, and grab a nice little bit of time from his GC rivals ...
12km to go: Barguil has his game face on. He takes a bottle from a team member as the road begins to kick up for the final ascent of the day. There are big crowds lining the roads, and of course they are yelling and urging the home favourite, Barguil, on to glory.
Updated
15km to go: Barguil has 2’18” on Geschke. As Robbie McEwen says, if Barguil has fuelled properly, not just today but in the preceding days, he’s looking very well set for the stage win. The yellow jersey group is 5’10” behind Barguil but the powerhouse that is Wout van Aert is driving the group onwards, trying to win back some time for Roglic, who faded away after repeatedly attacking Pogacar earlier.
Updated
17km to go: Pogacar is now in a group of 10, still descending off the Galibier: he is with Vingegaard, G. Thomas, Yates, Bardet, Quintana, Lutsenko, Kruijswijk, Kuss and Ion Izaguirre.
18km to go: According to the official graphics, indeed, there are about 20 riders in the whole race at the moment. Something is amiss. Anyway, we know the gaps between the front groups. Can Barguil do it? He has increased his lead on Geschke, it’s over two minutes now, but how much does the Frenchman have left in his legs for the Col du Granon?
22km to go: Barguil is 6’00” ahead of the peloton, if there is such a thing at this stage. I can’t see the grupetto on the official Tour site, they must be there somewhere, but aren’t showing up on the live map graphic so I don’t know how far behind they are.
23km to go: The situation is fluid to say the least. But Barguil remains clear out front at the moment. You can see the different groups on the road here on letour.fr.
30km to go: Barguil of Arkea-Samsic is pictured soloing down the descent to the final climb. This would be a stunning stage win if he can pull it off.
Geschke is giving chase, 1’35” behind the Frenchman. Behind that, Teuns and Latour are together.
Pogacar is 4’55” behind the front of the race at the moment. Roglic has dropped back to nearly seven minutes down, and Van Aert has stopped at the side of the road, apparently to try and help Roglic get back.
Updated
34km to go: There are some spectacular shots of the high-speed descent off the Galibier.
34km to go: I don’t think it is redundant if Pogacar ends up further ahead at the end of the day ...
It is epic @LukeMcLaughlin. All the tedious talk about 'burning matches' is redundant - Jumbo is risking everything to find a crack in Pogacar and nobody knows what will happen on the last climb.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 13, 2022
In an age of data driven sport, this is heart and soul stuff - panache is back!
37km to go: The riders are now storming down the very long descent to the foot of the Col du Granon.
Updated
39km to go: “Can’t blame them for over-egging this part of the stage – because we all know it will end with Pogacar even further on top,” emails Richard Powell.
Good point.
40km to go: Sure, the likes of Kamna (second in GC this morning) have been dropped, but the headline is still Pogacar and that hasn’t changed. It would be amazing if Jumbo-Visma cracked him ... but it doesn’t look like they are going to.
43km to go: The TV commentators are over-egging this a bit in my opinion. It’s quite exciting but it’s not as epic, historic or fascinating as some would have you believe ... and regardless, Pogacar is fully in control here. They may have inconvenienced him a bit, and isolated him, but he isn’t going anywhere (apart from the summit finish at Col du Granon.)
@LukeMcLaughlin Is Vingegaard accidentally separating himself from his teammates?
— Beau Dure 🇺🇦🌈🖖☮️ (@duresport) July 13, 2022
The NBC announcers are breathless, too, but they often are. What's so exceptional about today? Is it that most of the top 10 has been dropped?
Updated
45km to go: Barguil crests the climb of the Col du Galibier. He takes the souvenir Henri Desgrange and 20 points in the KOM competition ... not to mention 5,000euros, too.
45.5km to go: Now Cherel is swept up by Pogacar and Vingegaard. He appears to exchange a few words with the race leader as he is passed.
46km to go: Barguil, looking back to his old self, has put a minute into Geschke and co.
46km to go: Pogacar looks supremely calm, and supremely strong. There is a camera shot which demonstrates how far Pog & co. have to go on this penultimate climb ... it’s a looooong way.
47km to go: Pogacar and Vingegaard ease past Schachmann, who was in the early breakaway group.
“I haven’t seen a Tour de France in pieces like this, perhaps ever,” says David Millar on commentary.
Updated
48km to go: Roglic is dropped. Kuss, Kruiswijk and Vingegaard are still there.
Pogacar still doesn’t look troubled, particularly, and in fact it seems that Roglic doens’t have much left in the tank.
Thomas is dropped! Pogacar and Vingegaard are now alone together.
Updated
49km to go: Roglic goes again! Pogacar slams the door. Vingegaard follows as Pogacar comes past Roglic having shut down the attack ... It settles down, but Jumbo-Visma continue to push on, Pogacar continues to look calm and untroubled. He must be worried at this situation though, he has no teammates left, while Jumbo-Visma have four in this group and one up front (Van Aert).
51km to go: Latour’s antics on the climbs today have seen him move to within five points of Geschke, the current KOM leader. Barguil powers on at the front. Brandon McNulty takes it up on the front of the bunch for UAE Team Emirates. The gap between the bunch and the tete de la course is 5’56” now.
Updated
51km to go: The front group has under 7km to the summit of the Galibier, the highest point on this year’s Tour. Barguil attacks his fellow escapees, and gets a pretty large gap.
53km to go: “Pretty busy at the normally quiet Col du Granon,” emails Philip Donnison, attaching a photo of the summit finish area which will be coming up in an hour and a bit ...
54km to go: The Eurosport commentators were just saying how astonished they are that Jumbo-Visma are doing this so early in the stage, but it makes sense to me – Pogacar looks too strong for an attack on the final climb alone to make any difference. Of course, the danger is they burn too many matches early on ... and maybe Pogacar will find the strength to ride away from them on the Col du Granon? He’s certainly got his work cut out at the moment anyway.
Now, Roglic, all the Jumbo-Visma guys, Soler and Pogacar are in a much larger group as they grind up the Galibier.
54km to go: The peloton, including Kamna, is 10’43” behind the break.
Updated
56km to go: The group at the front is down to six: Barguil, Van Aert, Cherel, Geschke, Latour, Neilands.
The real action is taking place back down the road, though, with Jumbo-Visma trying to crack Pogacar. Now, Soler of UAE Team Emirates has bridged across to the group of four, including his leader Pogacar ... up ahead, Jumbo-Visma have Van Aert in the front group, so he will be able to help his teammates once they catch the break.
Updated
57km to go: Jumbo-Visma are trying to work Pogacar over. Roglic and teammates are taking turns to attack the race leader. Now Vingegaard goes! Geraint Thomas is there too ... Pogacar shuts it down. Roglic goes again. Pogacar shuts it down. How long can they keep this up for?
Updated
60km to go: Now this is interesting. Roglic, Benoot and Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) are flying down the descent off the Telegraphe. Geraint Thomas is there too.
So Pogacar, it seems, may have to fend for himself for the rest of the day. They will hit the Galibier next, the first of two HC climbs on today’s menu.
Updated
61km to go: A group of 11 is up front. Then another five behind them: Politt, Laporte, Rutsch, Bodnar and Bagioli.
In fact, Cherel has attacked off the front, and has a little gap.
62km to go: “Where have the days of insane solo attacks gone a la Schleck attacking on the Col d’Izoard and then the Galibier?” emails Thomas.
“Unreal attack with 60km to go. Loved every minute of that back in 2011. Don’t think I’ve seen anything like it since.”
That was the day that Cadel Evans won the Tour with a supremely gutsy defensive ride, if memory serves.
65km to go: Benoot powers away at the front of the main bunch. A couple of UAE riders mark him closely. It was predictable that a GC team would attack, and it makes sense to do it earlier in the stage, to see if they can wear down this depleted UAE train.
67km to go: UAE Team Emirates have responded to the Jumbo-Visma attack and have joined their rivals at the front of the bunch. The gap has already fallen to 7’42” between break and peloton following that injection of pace by Roglic and co.
68km to go: Primoz Roglic attacks from the main bunch! Tiesj Benoot is with him. Yates (Ineos) goes with him. The GC attacks have begun. Can Roglic strike a meaningful blow against his compatriot?
At the top of the Col du Telegraphe, meanwhile, Latour takes maximum points, holding off Rolland, with Geschke third.
Mathieu van der Poel abandons!
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was off the front with Van Aert today, but now he’s out of the race. Clearly not himself, best to rest and let his body recover.
Updated
71km to go: The break has splintered and 10 riders are now up front. Barguil, Teuns, Ion Izaguirre, Van Aert, Schachmann, Cherel, Geschke, Latour, Cattaneo and Neilands.
73km to go: Worth noting that the second-highest placed rider in the break on GC is Dylan Teuns, who is 23’24” down. So even if the break got another three-four minutes, the only rider vaguely threatening Pogacar on GC would be Barguil. And of course, fine rider though he is, he is not going to be a long-term threat for overall.
Updated
74km to go: The gap is up to 9’00”.
“The Ineos tactics of staying with Pogacar until the last 50 metres of a stage and then watching him accelerate away from them each time is certainly a very bold one,” writes Paulo on email.
75km to go: Oliver Naesen (AG2R) is the latest rider to have packed it in.
In the main bunch, Marc Hirschi has been dropped, so that’s another man down for UAE Team Emirates and Pogacar, for today at least. It’s all looking set up for one of the other GC teams to unleash the fury on the Col du Granon.
77km to go: Warren “Argy” Barguil is the highest rider on GC among the breakaway. He is still a whopping 13’33” down on Pogacar, though. UAE Team Emirates aren’t panicking, by any stretch: the gap is now up to 8’21”.
Here he is dodging some cows on the Tourmalet in 2015:
Updated
79km to go: Warren Barguil leads the escapees on the lower slopes of the Col du Télégraphe. Back down the road, a long way in fact, Van der Poel is swallowed up by the peloton. The gap is 7’40”.
83km to go: Van der Poel, who is seriously out of sorts at the moment, was dropped by the breakaway a while ago, so the 19 riders up front are:
Nils Politt and Max Schachman (Bora-Hansgrohe), Christophe Laporte and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Mikaël Chérel (AG2R-Citroën), Simon Geschke and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Andrea Bagioli and Mattia Cattaneo (Quick-Step), Kamil Gradek and Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious), Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-Easypost), Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic), Mads Pedersen and Tony Gallopin (Trek-Segafredo), Maciej Bodnar, Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech).
The gap has risen to 7’25”.
Updated
85km to go: “The lyric to the lucrative europop colossus ‘Hats are Nice’ was laughably short, comprising entirely of the refrain ‘Hats are Nice’ to a background of flutes, bagpipes, triangles, kazoo and samples of cuckoos, over a nauseating, kitsch melange of insipid drum and bass,” emails Paul Griffin.
“But the litigation was lengthy. Songwriters Barguil, Gallopin, Teuns, Ion Izaguirre, Van Aert, Schachmann, Cherel, Geschke, Politt, Latour, Cattaneo, Laporte, Van der Poel, Neilands, Pedersen, Rutsch, Van Keirsbulck, Gradek, Bodnar, and Bagioli, all claimed sole ownership of the three words and negligible melody. The litigation was prolonged and bitter, not least because royalties from the intended summer pop follow up – ‘Death is an Infinite Eternal Void’ – were negligible.”
Updated
87km to go: FYI, there were four abandonments yesterday: Bennett (UAE), O’Connor (AG2R), Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies) and Durbridge (BikeExchange-Jayco).
Updated
88km to go: “It’s stinking hot in this valley,” says Bradley Wiggins on the famous Eurosport motorbike. “This is the gateway to the Tour de France, this is where it really starts now, the first real climbs, the long ones ...”
The gap is nearly six minutes now.
89km to go: The Lotto Soudal sprinter Caleb Ewan had a chat with Eurosport’s Bernie Eisel before today’s stage, anticipating another very tough day at the office: “Luckily we have 40km flat first, that’s going to make it a little bit easier than going uphill straight away ... today’s going to be tough, tomorrow’s going to be even tougher, so I’m hoping for better legs than yesterday. It depends when I get dropped, hopefully I can get dropped in a normal grupetto, with quite a big group ... the last few days I’ve been getting dropped on my own. So I’m just hoping for that [to be in a large group].”
Updated
93km to go: “The riders look somehow like cattle, in a mad way. But cattle on bikes.”
Bradley Wiggins on a motorbike @LukeMcLaughlin?
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 13, 2022
That is not a sportsmanlike way to run this race...
95km to go: Five minutes plus for the break now.
The Col du Galibier is the highest point of this year’s tour, so the Souvenir Henri Desgrange will be awarded to the first rider over the top. That means a cool 5,000euros in prize money.
Before that, there is the small matter of the category-one Col du Télégraphe.
Updated
98km to go: Latour (5pts), Geschke (3pts) and Barguil (2pts) and Van Aert (1pt) were the first four riders over the top of the Lacets de Montvernier climb.
The Lacets de Montvernier 😍
— Felix Lowe (@saddleblaze) July 13, 2022
Surely on every cyclist's bucket list... #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/j9BBNzySL1
100km to go: For UAE Team Emirates, who have been depleted by the loss of Bennett and Laengen, they want to limit the amount of work they do. Thinking back to 2020, Jumbo-Visma did tonnes of work throughout the race to control for Roglic, arguably unnecessarily ... and it turned out to be all for nothing in the end.
101km to go: “There’s lots of chat about Pogacar trying to lose the Yellow Jersey/being happy if he’s loses it this period of the tour,” emails Jack. “Have been wondering why the leader would be happy with this? Does the pressure of the lead weigh heavier than the pressure of chasing another rider?”
It’s not so much pressure, although that can be part of it: the idea generally is that the team with a rider in yellow will do plenty of work to control the race, to shut down attacks, and to defend the jersey. For instance, Bora-Hansgrohe would certainly be more prominent today had Kamna taken the overall lead last night. In this way, a team hoping to win the overall race can limit the amount of days they are expected to do a lot of the work to control everything. Of course it can be a risk to lose the jersey but given Pogacar’s current dominance, he would always be confident of making up a handful of seconds on anyone in the high mountain stages.
In addition to that, not being in yellow reduces a rider’s commitments after the stage – having to do the podium presentation and media duties, etc., so it can be easier in that sense too.
Updated
104km to go: As the main bunch hits the climb, all is calm, although they are travelling at a very decent pace. We have a helicopter shot of the famous switchbacks, the bikes and race vehicles snaking up the narrow road, which has an average gradient of 8.2%.
Updated
105km to go: The break is about to hit the first climb, the Lacets de Montvernier, and the gap is 3’43”. Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe), who has often been visible at the front at the Tour de France, leads the 20-man group on to the first ascent.
Updated
110km to go: The gap between break and peloton is up to 2’39”.
115km to go: The breakaway riders are as follows: Barguil, Gallopin, Teuns, Ion Izaguirre, Van Aert, Schachmann, Cherel, Geschke, Politt, Latour, Cattaneo, Laporte, Van der Poel, Neilands, Pedersen, Rutsch, Van Keirsbulck, Gradek, Bodnar, Bagioli.
The peloton has “knocked it off”, as Sean Kelly said, and this move is going to stick. They have 1’20”. Initially it looked like Movistar Team and Lotto Soudal, who missed the move, were going to try and bring it back. But they have given up now.
Updated
119km to go: A group of 20 riders has now formed at the front, Van Aert and Van der Poel having been swept up. This is a big enough and good enough group to have a chance of making it to the finish.
Updated
120km to go: For sure, you can see just by looking at the conditions today that it’s plus-30C, easy.
@LukeMcLaughlin on the topic of temperature - worth noting that official temps are taken "in the shade". Obviously peleton is riding in full glare of the sun so very much hotter.
— Matthew (@MashMath) July 13, 2022
123km to go: The race is heading along a long, straight road, on a slight upward incline, and the Lacets de Montvernier are looming large. Not quite as large as that final climb, but the first categorised climb is still a category two.
@LukeMcLaughlin I’m not sure what MaliciousA has been smoking, but the last time Pinot was in good climbing form was about 4 Prime Ministers ago. That said, I agree that we need to see some string attacks from GC contenders today and tomorrow.
— Andy H (@DoctorCuriosity) July 13, 2022
Updated
126km to go: Cattaneo is nearly across to Van der Poel and Van Aert. Those two are 31” ahead of the main bunch.
Back down the road, the peloton is stretching out at the front as a larger group tries to get away.
The average speed is 54.3km/h at the moment. Should we be suspicious of the incredible average speeds we are seeing at this Tour?
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128km to go: “I see the TdF’s meagre 27 degrees and I’ll raise them the 37 degrees it will hit this afternoon in south-west France not far from Bordeaux – with it due to hit 40 degrees at the weekend,” emails Roland. “The riders have it easy… I’m sweating just watching them on the TV!
“On a more serious note, it is indeed very likely much warmer than the reported 27 degrees or will be by the end of the stage. I’ll be interested in seeing how the Pog deals with such heat – his two other triumphs were achieved in notably cooler climes…”
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130km to go: Tom Pidcock (Ineos) has a problem and drops back to the team car. Cattaneo of Quick-Step, up at the front, seems to be trying to bridge across to Van Aert and Van der Poel.
132km to go: “Can you or anyone reading help me out?” asks Neil on email. “Is there a harder climb than the Col du Granon in TdF’s repertoire? I know there are longer ones but I can’t find anything to compare to the savage difficulty of an average (average!) gradient of 9.2% ... and that’s before you even consider the altitude.
“And, separately, is it humane to back up today with 3 HC climbs tomorrow, or would it be illegal in more enlightened jurisdictions than France?”
135km to go: Van Aert leads Van der Poel through the green intermediate sprint arch at Aiguebelle, and takes 20 points to stretch his lead in the green jersey competition. It was uncontested. The two great rivals look keen to push on and see if they can hold the peloton at bay for a while.
Updated
136km to go: It’s another stinking hot day in France ... the official website reckons 27C, but I reckon it’s significantly hotter than that on the road. A group of six has struck off the front of the main bunch.
139km to go: The advantage of the two leaders has flown out to 43”.
142km to go: Van Aert and Van der Poel have 16”.
Apparently the Col du Granon hasn’t featured on a Tour de France route since 1986, which also happened to be the last day that the great Bernard Hinault wore the yellow jersey.
146km to go: Van der Poel grimaces with effort as he rides ahead of Van Aert. They have built a lead of 13”.
@LukeMcLaughlin I think this looks a great stage for Pinot. He's looking to be in great climbing form, today & tomorrow (which look absolutely horrendous) seem the best for his abilities and chances of the win. GC wise, hopefully some attacks today!
— MaliciousA (@MaliciousA) July 13, 2022
Updated
A reminder of how the GC looked come the end of yesterday’s stage 10:
1) Tadej Pogacar 37hr 11’ 28”
2) Lennard Kamna +11”
3) Jonas Vingegaard +39”
4) Geraint Thomas +1’17”
5) Adam Yates +1’25”
6) David Gaudu +1’38”
7) Romain Bardet +1’39”
8) Tom Pidcock +1’46”
9) Enric Mas +1’50”
10) Luis León Sánchez +1’50”
Poor old Lennard Kamna gave it everything to get in the yellow jersey, and missed it by 11 seconds.
Updated
We're racing on stage 11!
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) attacks immediately ... Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Fenix) is on his wheel. They are working together, it seems, to distance the peloton. And it’s worked. They’ve already got a gap of six-seven seconds. Van Aert wants maximum points at the intermediate sprint, at Aiguebelle, which comes after 16km.
Updated
The front of the peloton is seemingly glued to the back of the race commissaire’s car. It’s going to be another fast and furious start. Sporting his green jersey, Wout van Aert was having a bite to eat a few moments ago ... Pierre Rolland is up there too, he was very active yesterday and is obviously trying to put himself in contention for the polka-dot jersey.
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Apparently Rigoberto Urán took the power meter off his bike a few days ago. “It’s full gas anyway, so what’s the point in measuring it?” he said, according to the Eurosport commentator Rob Hatch.
Nairo Quintana is pictured riding along in the neutralised zone ... they have around six kilometres to go before the flag drops.
Updated
The riders are out on the road in the neutralised zone. “Brutal” is a word that’s being bandied around a lot with regards to today’s stage. That final climb should see a lot of action – can anyone put Pogacar in trouble?
Over on Twitter, Dan Martin reckons a lot of GC riders and teams will be holding something back with another huge day tomorrow.
The last 4km today could decide @letour today. When you get above 2000m it’s a different race. But we might also not see much attacking as it’s risky to go into the red and with another big day tomorrow, I think it will be a case of guys losing time rather than big attacks.
— Dan Martin (@DanMartin86) July 13, 2022
The stage is scheduled to start in five minutes’ time.
Today’s stage takes in just under 4,000m of climbing. Ben O’Connor, in a preview interview about today’s route, predicts that there will be big gaps on the final climb. O’Connor withdrew with an injury he sustained in a crash during the grand départ in Denmark.
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Preamble
Yesterday’s stage 10, as the race entered the Alps, was far more frantic than many expected, and not just because environmental protesters held up the race by sitting in the road and letting off flares. Tadej Pogacar kept his yellow jersey by 11 seconds, sprinting to the finish line in Megève in a show of strength before the mountain stages really get going.
Today’s stage is an Alpine greatest hits collection, with two hors catégorie climbs – the Col du Galibier and the Col du Granon Serre Chevalier – coming after the picturesque switchbacks of the Lacets de Montvernier, and the Col du Télégraphe.
The defending champion, Pogacar, lost his lieutenant George Bennett to Covid yesterday morning and UAE Team Emirates’ rivals may fancy they can expose some weakness among the team in the high mountain stages. Exposing weakness in Pogacar himself, however, seems to be another matter. Will we see a breakaway succeed, as it did yesterday, or will it be a general classification shoot-out on the summit finish of the Col du Granon Serre Chevalier? Let’s find out ...
