Cycling: There are five mountain classifications on the program for the 15th stage of the Tour de France. However, the GC riders will only duel on the final climb. Up to the Plateau de Beille, the legs will do the talking - and give us some answers. It could well be that the preliminary decision for the yellow jersey will be made tomorrow. Or will Jonas Vingegaard strike back against Tadej Pogacar?
Preliminary decision on the Plateau de Beille?
The decisive phase of the 111th edition of the Tour de France will begin tomorrow at the latest. Before the second and final rest day on Monday, the 197,7-kilometer section from Loudenvielle to the Plateau de Beille for nothing less than the yellow jersey. Five categorised climbs will make life difficult for the pros. While the Col de Peyresourde, the Col de Mente and Col de Portet d'Aspet the breakaway group, the last two climbs will decide valuable seconds in the overall ranking. Unfortunately, an early attack by a dangerous captain on the Agnes pass the way to the final climb is still too long. But there, at the latest, there will be attacks and perhaps a preliminary decision about the Tour victory will be made. Because the climb up to the Beille platter is merciless and will definitely leave a big gap in time after two tough weeks. With a length of 15,7 kilometers and an average gradient of 7,8 percent, there are no more excuses. Tomorrow, our legs will do the talking - and they will answer many of our questions.
Velomotion forecast: Vingegaard must stay on track
Nachdem Tadej pogacar has gained over 40 seconds on Jonas Vingegaard today and is now almost two minutes ahead of him in the GC, Visma – Lease a Bike must deliver tomorrow. Another loss of time of this magnitude would be far too much. Even if it is assumed that jonas vingegaard in the third week, he must now limit the gap. Better still: He should fight back and take revenge for today's defeat. We believe that Jonas Vingegaard can do just that. The Dane could wear down the Slovenian, as he is much better at long climbs. Behind him, we can look forward to the duel for third place between Carlos Rodriguez and Remco Evenepoel look.
* * * jonas vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike)
** Tadej pogacar (UAE), Remco Evenepoel (Soudal – Quick Step)
* Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), Julius Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)