The men’s Tour is over with some predictable results and some less predictable outcomes. In my preview, I predicted two of the three podium spots, although they weren’t exactly wild guesses. As usual, the day-by-day of the race was fun, never failing to serve up the drama, never failing to make me wonder what would happen the next day.
Here are five things I took away from it:
- Tadej, Tadej, Tadej – If there was any doubt previously that we’re seeing a generational talent inflict himself on the pro peloton it’s gone now. This was Pogačar’s fourth Tour victory. He’s 26 (almost 27). He has 21 individual stage victories. Last year, he won the Triple Crown (Giro, Tour and World Championship) AND two monuments. Many are saying he’s already the greatest rider of all time. And so, watching him put his rivals to the sword over and over again on the roads of France was a confusing mix of thrilling and boring. It doesn’t hurt that his team has the largest budget in the sport, protecting him from team attacks like the ones Visma used in past Tours to put Jonas Vingegaard on the top podium step. But oh yeah, Pogačar finished second in those races, meaning he’s been first or second in the last six Tours.
- The Evenepoel Mystery – I predicted Remco Evenepoel would finish third. Instead, he withdrew looking neither injured nor particularly ill. The rider and team have been tight-lipped in the aftermath. Sure, Evenepoel looked off-color in the stages before his withdrawal, but as the leader of his team, one would have thought he would stay in the race to support whoever had the best chance of a stage win. Something bigger was clearly wrong.
- The Rise of Lipowitz, Fall of Roglic – Primož Roglič was supposed to be Red Bull’s GC leader, fighting for the win with the help of his young teammate Florian Lipowitz. Roglič didn’t have a bad Tour. He finished 8th in a packed top ten. Lipowitz though, finished third. He’s 21. That put him in the young rider’s white jersey, an honor everyone expected to go to Evenepoel. Frankly, the young rider category is full of talent, and Red Bull should feel very lucky to have perhaps the strongest rider in that generation (although UAE’s Isaac del Toro might have something to say about that).
- All Hail the Breakaway – Ireland’s Ben Healy won the Tour’s most combative rider prize. He even wore yellow for a couple of days, making EF Education’s campaign a successful one all on his own. But the breakaway had a good race overall. Healy, Ben O’Connor, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Simon Yates and Thymen Arensman twice got off the front and closed the deal. If Pogačar’s dominance is the main story, the success of so many breakaway artists is the counterweight.
- Nos Da, Geraint! – Geraint Thomas, the greatest Welsh rider of all time, rode his 14th and last Tour this year. At 39, he’s calling it quits. Thomas has been the leader of the British cycling team (Sky, Ineos) since taking over from Chris Froome. He’s won a lot of big races, including the 2018 Tour. He also gives a hell of an interview. I, for one, am sorry to see him go.
