The 2021 Tour de France is about to begin and we are here to accompany it and make sure you don't miss the most interesting parts. In this article you will find a review of the race and comments from Nimrod Regev, a Francophile and amateur cyclist, who follows the Tour de France year after year. In short, a celebration for Francophiles who love the race :-).
However, before you start reading the article, I strongly recommend that you first read the article Tour de France – Everything you wanted to know about the French cycling raceThere you will find the history of the race, an explanation of the rules and jerseys, and also information about some of the most interesting stations in the Tour de France. In short, everything you need to get into the swing of things 🙂
Are you done reading? Let's get started!
Tour de France 2021 – Race progress
Please note that the articles are arranged from end to beginning so that you can see the most recent section. Therefore, if you want to read all the commentaries from beginning to end, you will need to scroll down to the end of the article and then start going up.
July 18 – End of the race
Let's start this column's summaries with the following locations:
- Yellow jersey: Tadj Pogčar (22 years old)
- Second in the column, 8 minutes and 12 seconds behind the first: the young (24-year-old) Danish Johan Vingegaard
- Third: Richard Carpez from Ecuador
The “Israelis” in the overall final ranking:
- Daniel Martin 40th place
- Gilliam Boyavan 105
- Omer Goldstein 122
- Andre Greifel 125
- Christ Fromm 133
- Rick Zabel 134
- Reto Holstein 136
Michael Wood, the leader in the Israeli cycling team and the only one to win the Tour jersey (the polka dot jersey) in the 15th stage, where he finished fifth overall. He continued to be a serious contender for the polka dot jersey and retired in the 19th stage. By the time he retired, he was 27th in the overall standings.
Michael Wood decided that he probably no longer had a chance to win the polka dot jersey and preferred to rest and recover before participating in the Olympics (as a Canadian).
Of the 182 riders who started the Tour, 141 finished. Pogačar also took the white and polka-dot jersey, like last year. The red jersey was taken by the Frenchman, Frank Bonamour. The green jersey was taken by Mark Cavendish, who won an unprecedented 4 stages in the current Tour and missed the Paris stage and only came third, because he was unable to get through the advance team that blocked him during the breakaway.
Cavendish kept his strength and tailed off from the fourth stage to win the prestigious and unprecedented fifth stage in Paris. But as mentioned, he was blocked during the breakaway, I saw him stop pedaling for a second while breaking away, so as not to run into the one in front of him. Cavendish also won 34 stages in the stages he participated in, also without any precedent.
What we mean by Cavendish is that he unexpectedly emerged from the oblivion of the Tour in which he was already considered a “passé” and stunned with his incredible return to the top of the Tour. Speaking of unprecedented achievements, Poggiardi is considered the youngest Tour winner ever. It should be mentioned that a young rider in the Tour is considered a rider up to the age of 25, and he has his own ranking - the white jersey. This is because a rider in the Tour de France only reaches maturity in the second half of his twenties and early thirties. The current Tour marks a change in this trend and many young riders are fighting for the top spots. Of course, Poggiardi is at the top.
It is worth mentioning that the two candidates to challenge Pogączer in this Tour did not participate in the competition, thus leaving this arena vacant for him. Roglic retired early on after suffering a serious injury in one of the falls, from which he was unable to recover. The winner of the Tour in 2019, did not compete at all.
One of the characteristics of this tour was the huge crashes right at the beginning. In one of these crashes, the entire Israeli group was caught and escaped without losing a single rider. Another characteristic of this tour was the harsh and unpredictable weather.
I don't know if it's a characteristic, but certainly unique to this tour, was the stoppage of the tour for a minute of protest due to organizational deficiencies that caused crashes, such as a very narrow road towards the end of the day's route, where teams fighting to place their sprinters in a better breakaway position than each other are expected to arrive and crowd together.
The winners as a team were – Bahrain Victorio. Israel Startup Nation came 19 out of 23 teams. The interesting thing is that in the Tour de France there is no special score for the winning nation, but still, the prestige of the country depends on the winning nation. There is no doubt that small Slovenia starred in this tour.
That was the conclusion of the 2021 Tour de France. See you at next year's Tour de France!
July 12 – The boys will play in front of us
Section 16. Still in the High Pyrenees. Winding, narrow and wet roads in addition to a grueling route = risk for the riders. There is no logical reason for the leaders, and certainly not for Fougère, to take risks and/or exhaust themselves too much.
The result is a very, very technical ride by the peloton, with the leaders keeping each other from escaping, which allowed the “boys” to play in front of them. The peloton rides delicately while the boys escape far ahead, taking risks from the goalposts.
More than once I held my breath on the sharp, wet turns, as these riders, right on the edge of their seats, avoided skidding and crashing. And on the climbs, my heart sank with them, as I saw their fight to the end to succeed in achieving feats that would record them in the pages of the Tour's history. If not today, then what day?… This is the day for the escapees looking for an opportunity to stand out and maybe, maybe even manage to take a section.
Indeed, Patrick Konad, the Austrian champion who broke away about 100 kilometers before the finish, managed to maintain the gap between himself and his pursuers until the finish line, thus finishing, for the first time in his life, as the winner of a stage in the Tour de France.
The battle between the riders following me was even more dramatic. If not first in the section, then at least a place on the podium (the first three). 3 km from the finish line Pierre Luc Perchon (French), takes the initiative and the risk and breaks forward and breaks away from the group of riders of about 9 riders. It seemed that he was successful in his bet and he would indeed manage to finish two seconds behind the Austrian, the winner of the day. But almost at the line itself, his strength gave out and two riders passed him, almost at the finish line, thus “robbing” him of even the glory of the podium today. 42 seconds from the winner of the section today.
At the top of the general classification, as expected, there is no movement. Everyone kept their place well. Despite an attempt to escape from the peloton (which arrived about 14 minutes after the caissons) in the last kilometers of the section. Despite the escape attempt, because in the escape, what can be done, all the candidates for the first places participated….
The most cynical, one might say, was Mark Cavendish, who has already taken 4 stages in this Tour and is confidently wearing the green jersey. He finished in 135th place out of 145 riders who have survived so far. As if he said: I've already done my part. Why should I risk it, let's gather strength for the finale in Paris. There I will show who I really am….
As stated in the overall standings, there has been no change and Poggiarre continues to lead confidently by a gap of 5 minutes and 18 seconds over Rigoberto, who is in second place. I have no doubt that, barring catastrophes, God forbid, Poggiarre will win this Tour and, in my opinion, many more future Tours. The guy is only 23 years old! Usually, riders only reach their maturity in their late twenties or early thirties…
On the other hand, in the Water Polo final, the Dutchman took the best climber's jersey from Quintana. He was followed by the Canadian Michael Wood, his team captain, and immediately after him, closely followed by the legend - the veteran Colombian Quintana. The overall cumulative position to date of our team is 18th out of 23 teams.
Michael Wood is ranked 29th overall, which is the best position, by far, of all the other “Israel Startup Nation” riders. He is followed by Daniel Martin in 52nd place. Omer Goldstein, a native of Israel, is ranked 126th overall.
July 10 – Israeli team member takes the polka dot shirt
First stop in the Pyrenees – from Carcassonne to Killau. 184 km of effort and a battle against the heat, the challenges in the form of “walls” of mountains rising up on difficult and long slopes and risks on steep, sharp turns. A route like this invites escapes. But this time… actually this time, maybe we’ll start from the end.
Michael Wood, the Canadian captain of our team, came fifth in this section, but… but! But most of all, he won the polka-dot jersey that he took from the legendary Colombian rider Niaro Quintana! For the first time in 2000 years, an Israeli representative in the Tour won this prestigious jersey. (Let's not get carried away too much, this is a win today, we'll see if it holds up tomorrow in the high mountains - Quintana's specialty).
To add to this truly impressive achievement, it is worth noting that Michael Wood fell on one of those turns that I mentioned earlier as dangerous, and not only did he manage to get back on his bike (losing 20 seconds until he got back on the bike and gained speed again), but he also managed to catch up with the group that had escaped him.
Meanwhile, Michael Wood has advanced several places in the overall rankings and is now in the very coveted twenty-sixth place.
Michael Martin maintained his 65th overall position. Greifel in 114th place. Rick Zabel in 133rd place. Omer Goldstein in 135th place. The legend, Chris Froome in 137th place. Reto Holstein 142nd. Out of 149 riders who survived. So we already learned that the jersey changed shoulders on this day and not just any, but the representative of the Israeli team!
Michael Wood managed to fit very nicely into a breakaway group at the front consisting of four riders from different teams, but they worked together as if they were from the same team, thus preventing the peloton, who were busy guarding each other, from getting free to chase them. The peloton, I think, was so busy guarding that they didn't notice the escape of Gallium Marten, who was somewhere around 8, 9 minutes from first place. 4 and a half minutes from second place.
The Frenchman, Gallium Martin, cunningly/wisely took advantage of the peloton's lack of alertness and burst forward with all his might, managing to move strongly into second place, with a gap of about forty-eight seconds from first place, while his pursuer was five minutes and eighteen seconds behind.
And there was light and joy, not only in our camp, but also in the French camp.
The Dutchman Molma, who had already broken away about 97 km before the finish line, managed to maintain his gap from the rest of the followers and won this difficult section and also won the red jersey of the fighter of the day.
The yellow jersey remained on the shoulders of Pogger, who is also wearing, of course, the white jersey (the fastest youngster in the Tour). The green jersey remained on the shoulders of Cavendish thanks to the gap he had accumulated so far. Because today he had a really weak ride.
That's it - tomorrow we reach the high mountains where the climbs are not only higher, but the air is also thinner. This is the "hunting ground" for Colombian riders who are accustomed to riding at high altitudes with thin air.
Still, we'll keep our fingers crossed for our punter Michael Wood.
July 9 – The Phoenix Strikes Again!
Section 13, which began in Namys and ended in Carcassonne, the wonderful medieval city that served as the setting for so many castle movies like Robin Hood and more.
This is a long course – 220 km, of a course considered completely flat that promised and delivered a sprint finish.
Mark Cavendish - The Phoenix, who has already been mourned for having disappeared from all titles for three years, has struck again! For the fourth time in this Tour, and the 34th time cumulatively in all the Tour de France events in which he has participated, Cavendish has won a stage. More than any rider before him in the history of the Tour.
Accompanied by his loyal and, it should be noted, most talented servants, he made his way to the breakaway group for the last few hundred meters. When they blocked his path within this group, protected by his super talented pacer Murkov, Cavendish knew how to give a shoulder to the right, give a shoulder to the left (a bit like in football) and repel those who were hindering him from making his way out of the mess that he got into, and in the last tens of meters the green shirt was revealed from the mess of shirts.
Right in the footsteps of his loyal and super talented servant, Murkov, who led his leader to this amazing victory. It was a bit heartbreaking to see Murkov, who by all accounts could have taken this segment, erase himself in favor of his leader's achievement and even right at the finish line take a quick look in Cavendish's direction, to make sure that Cavendish had indeed won and not him, by mistake...
This is the rather thankless role of the group workers. All for one and each for himself….
So far, 33 riders have retired from the Tour, four retired today, three due to a fall in which the Tour leader, Pogger, almost participated, escaping it thanks to a nimble maneuver.
There is no change in the various jerseys. Our Cuban Griffel once again managed to do quite well and came in eighth place today!
Omer Goldstein finished the day in 105th place out of 155 remaining riders. It should be noted that from the Israeli team, tap tap - no one retired.
In the overall ranking, the leader among the "Israelis" is Canadian Michael Wood, who is in a respectable 30th place.
July 8 – “The Shark” finishes the first segment
You can find the sites where the column passed atThis article.
Yesterday there was a 160 km tailwind, which made me expect a very fast race. In the early stages of this section, the peloton explodes and splits into groups. But soon, with considerable effort, the groups manage to regroup around the yellow leader into one peloton. But a group of 13 escapes to the peloton, including Greifel, a rider from our team. A few dozen kilometers before the end, a quartet also escapes to the preliminaries. Seven and a half kilometers before the end, the German Neil Pollitt, like a shark, with his mouth open to absorb maximum oxygen, escapes and finishes first in the section in the Tour for the first time in his life. Greifel finished sixth!
Average speed 47 km/h. There is no change in the shirts.
Tomorrow, section 13 starts in Namys and ends in Carcassonne, the wonderful medieval city that served as the setting for so many castle movies like Robin Hood and more. A long route – 220 km, of a route that is considered to be completely flat. Here is a picture of the city Carcassonne You'll see it in tomorrow's race, and I visited it with friends a few years ago.
July 6 – An Extraordinary “Ordinary” Day
The rest day is over and we head out into the mountains again, into the Alps for the 10th section.
A Sunday in the Tour without any major dramas. No heroic break-ins. No revolutions, no mass crashes. I could almost say a day of routine. But first of all, there is no such thing as a “routine” in the Tour, and even if it were a routine day, it would be an exception and an exception in this amazing Tour.
A day of views, a day of headwind in the final kilometers, a day of personal protection, a day of chaos in the leading group. Everyone was there. All the sprinters, but they got there alone, exposed, without the fighters for them. Everyone except Cavendish. 3 fighters and then 2 and finally at the tip at the end one fighter gives Cavendish his third victory in this tour.
The 33rd stage victory in all the tours. Comparable to “Cannibal” - after all, it is Belgian Eddie Marx who won this title not only because he won 33 stages of the Tour race, as today “our phoenix” the 36-year-old British Cavendish managed to equal, but also because he won (to the best of my memory) five tours in a row and in all possible jerseys: the polka dot, the green and, of course, the yellow.
In any case, Kabadish, who finished first today, kept his green jersey, Kovacser kept his yellow, O'Connor kept his second place on the podium with the same two minutes and two seconds gap over Kovacser and another Tour legend, the Colombian Quintana on the podium. The "Israeli" Grapple continues to impress and came in seventh today. Our Omar in 102nd place today.
July 4 – Duel between O'Connor and Pogger
I really hope you brought blankets to watch this segment. It was a sloppy one! But the fight was hot. Exactly as expected. A segment reserved only for professionals. A segment of suffering and endurance and we?… I’m like in ancient Roman times in the amphitheater, comfortably watching from our seats the suffering of the “games before us”….Who will win? Who is our sympathy?
Panic from the risks the players take in front of us in the rounds on the wet descents. Losing a beat here and doubling the beats of excitement there. Sometimes we simply rest in peace from the pastoral landscape that serves as the setting for this competition, a competition that is until the end of its strength. Australian O'Connor tickled Pogger's yellow today.
O'Connor ran forward and fought like a lion up the neat climbs one after the other, in the freezing cold of the cold against the wind that the riders create themselves, thus letting the cold in through their winter riding gloves, through their shoes protected from moisture, through their cycling shirts thickened with thermal vests. O'Connor dug and dug, deepening the gap between himself and the group in which Mogan Pogchar was hiding.
But Pogchar is a young tiger - a real tiger, a speedster and a fox. He burst out at the right moment, at the last moment, from the belt of his bodyguards and climbed like a lion and narrowed and narrowed and narrowed the gap that O'Connor had worked so hard to overcome before. An incredible breakthrough, just like yesterday's incredible breakthrough. Simply an explosion of energy that is really hard to believe exists in a human being.
So yes, O'Connor finished first for the section but Pogger kept the yellow jersey two minutes ahead of his new rival – O'Connor, who is second in the overall standings. By the way, Venter Paul, remember the Dutchman with the yellow jersey from the day before yesterday? Today he finished in 41st place.
Almost as usual, the “Israeli” who finished first today is Daniel Martin in 44th place. Immediately after him is Michael Wood in 45th place. Our own Omer Goldstein finished today in 85th place. A good place in the middle. Only 165 riders remained. This day did a great job cleaning up the riders’ tail.
In the overall aggregate position, the leading “Israeli” is Michael Wood (the Canadian). In a respectable 31st place. One place above Julien Alaphilippe! Daniel Martin in 61st place. Omer in 145th place. For those still interested in Tour legend Chris Froome, who joined the Israeli team as a shining star. So he is in 153rd place overall. It is sad to look at a true Tour legend fighting for her lost honor at the bottom of the Tour.
July 3 – Upheaval in the French Alps
How do you watch the Tour de France on TV?
Before we talk about today's events, I wanted to help you understand the information presented to you on the TV screen, so that you can better understand what is happening during the race (sorry for the quality of the photography, not exactly my area of expertise 🙂. Keep in mind that everything was filmed using my simple smartphone). So what do we actually see on the screen besides the race images?
The screen is dotted with information points, which are actually very simple to decipher. Pay attention to the data bar at the top of the screen - there are numbers, arrows and sometimes also an icon of shirts in different colors as needed.
Below is a short line, in my case it’s in French because I’m watching the column on the French channel: The line says “Race leader.” That is, the race leader is currently appearing on the screen. In this case, it’s a lone rider who has escaped to the front. In the top line from left to right: 11.9 km, this is the distance left for the leading rider to reach the finish.
The two-way arrows mark the gap. In this case, the first gap is between first place and the finish, which is 11.9 km, and then between first place and second, which is already marked with a time! One minute and ten seconds, and so on, between second and third, which is attached to the third position with the yellow jersey icon. That is, the third-place group includes the yellow jersey holder, and so on.
On the second screen, a small clock was added out of nowhere at the bottom right of the screen. This is the speed of the rider being photographed (sometimes it's the speed of the peloton in the photo or the elusive group that appears on the screen at that moment).
Third screenshot. - A bad shot that cuts off the left edge of the screen. But we'll still try to explain what we see here - the addition this time is at the bottom of the screen on the left. There we notice a list of names and flags.
Because the footage is cropped, it's hard for me to say exactly what the reference is. But usually, they show either the order of the leaders by name at that moment with the flag of the nation they come from, or what is likely to happen in a group of runners (since in a sprint race, runners tactically change frequently in the order of the lead, there is no obligation that the order that appears in the names on the screen is the order among the riders at that moment. On the other hand, usually, for the purpose of assisting in identification, the rider's number, the number worn on his chest and back, also appears).
The issue of nationality is a very, very interesting one, because supposedly it has no reward in any way. But still, what is usually remembered is the name of the winner and his nationality, and not his affiliation with any group that fought for him to lead him to the position he managed to reach. The groups, just like the Israeli one, are a mess of nationalities whose sponsors are simply seeking publicity.
As for the summary of yesterday's crazy day - let me remind you of the longest route in 21 years - 250 km at an average speed of over 40 km/h per lap (leading even higher), and towards the end, the riders are not spared several climbs that reach up to a 13% gradient!
The winner of this section was another Slovenian named Matej Mohoric, who broke away to the Tour quite early on and managed to maintain this lead throughout the rest of the stage until the finish line, thus also winning the red jersey, which is the warrior's jersey, and, as if by chance, also the polka-dotted jersey, which is the jersey of the best climber in the Tour.
But Mathieu van der Poel, in his own unprecedented heroic struggle, managed to retain the yellow jersey for the entire Tour so far. I don't remember such a breakaway by the holder of the yellow jersey. Usually, the holders of the yellow jersey are in a defensive position, not a breakaway. The team protects him from his rivals who threaten his position and preserves his strength.
It is extremely rare to see such a rider reach the finish line and literally collapse from exhaustion. Lying on his back, all sweaty, short of breath, helplessly staring at the fence, drinking eagerly and pouring water on himself to cool his body. I have no doubt that this tremendous effort of his to keep the yellow jersey for another day will cost him his place in the coming days in the mountains, for, this is the beginning of the mountains and the beginning of the Alps.
The “Israeli” who is placed first (so far), out of the group that has branded us, in the overall ranking, is Daniel Martin in 63rd place. Our Omer Goldstein is in 155th place. Today is the eighth section. From here, in fact, the real race begins - the mountain sections and before us is the first section in the Alps.
Summary of today's column
As expected, there were changes at the top today. Pagačar stunned the Tour and broke through the climbs of the Alps in cold and rainy weather and opened a time of one minute and four and eight seconds from second place. The yellow jersey changed hands and passed from the Dutchman to the young Slovenian and not just passed, but with such a significant time at the beginning of the mountains.
The best surprise of the season came from our Canadian – Miles Wood. For quite a long time he led the Tour until the very last kilometers, but then the Belgian Dylan Ton appeared and not only took the lead of the day from him, but also the red jersey of the warrior of the day. And yet a rider from the Israeli team managed to come third in the section, with Pogáčar right behind him.
Michael Wood is ranked 33rd overall. Definitely respectable. Ganiel Martin is 64th overall. Guillaume Boehven 93. Andre Gremel 156. Omar Goldstein 157. Rick Zabel 165 Chris Froome 166. Reto Holenstein 171. All of this out of 177 riders. Omar finished today in 157th place (last in our group).
Link to tourist attractions along today's route
July 2 – The longest section of the race
Today they will do the longest section in 21 months: about 250 km!!! And it's not like they will be spared, in return, the climbs. In my opinion, the weather is not in the riders' favor either - it's hot! Attached here is a section of the route:
Below you will find a link to the page Tourist attractions along the route. Arranged according to the kilometer axis of the route (you can change the text language - in the upper right corner, there is a small flag to select the language):
Link to iteratives on the Tour de France route
July 1 – Arrive in the Loire Valley
Today we have 160 km, a flat course. Departure from the city of Tours. Ending in the city of Chateau Roux. We leave the province of Brotienne for central France. Such a course invites the conclusion of a sprinter battle.
Those more interested in the scenery can leave the TV on in the background and take a quick peek from the beginning of the stage to the end. But the real battle begins in the last 20 kilometers. Until then, the arena is more or less open to solo escapees or small groups. This is their chance to stand out, gain exposure and the red warrior's jersey, and maybe, maybe even win the stage.
The holders of the various jerseys keep a close eye on their opponents who endanger them, so that they don't escape. The "escapees" who don't endanger them, don't interest them that much. Some people constantly report into their headphones the status of the column and especially their status in relation to their opponents.
By the way, one of the complaints of those who represent the riders in matters of safety in the Tour is about those headphones that encourage the riders to push forward, to fight for a better position in preparation for sending the sprinters. This is even when the crowding at the head of the column endangers the riders, as happened in the second section of this column, when the narrow road could not accommodate this crowding and the inevitable happened…
However, in the last 20 km or so, you begin to clearly see the teams organizing themselves (according to their colors) to lead their sprinters to the best starting position.
Each group fights for its place, and thus the peloton gains momentum and becomes a "monster" that swallows up all the dreams of the runners in its path.
So settle comfortably in your chairs in front of the TV today and you're sure to enjoy the best show in the city and actually in the world. A show that has tension, wonderful views, a Hawaiian carnival, and most of all, lots of drama.
June 30 – The fan who waved the sign that caused Sunday's crash was arrested
Today I was at the show and I didn't watch the column from segment 5 against the clock. As mentioned, as a viewer, I find it a boring segment - individuals set out on the same track at a constant distance from each other to compete for time.
This section is relatively short because it is supposed to be a constant sprint and without the help of teams. In any case, it is important in the points awarded to the riders and indeed there have been changes, the main one being that Pegcsor, who finished first in this section, climbed to second place by only 8 seconds from the remaining yellow jersey on the shoulders of Matthieu van der Poel, who finished this section fifth.
The very young Wagcher rose to second place overall at the expense of Alaphilippe, who finished today in only 14th place, thus dropping to fourth place overall. Among the “Israelis,” our Omer finished first, finishing the day in 82nd place, with the rest of the group scattered below 100th place. In the overall standings, Omer is 161st. The first of our group is Daniel Martin in 70th place. 12:01 minutes from first place.
So there you have it, we're starting to get a feel for Pogáčar, the champion of last year and probably, why not this year as well. He'll probably be with us for many more years because this guy is simply a phenomenon. Only 22 years old and the whole future is ahead of him. Usually, the holders of the yellow jerseys of the Tour start at least in their late twenties if not in the early and mid thirties.
And more interesting news: the woman who waved the sign that caused the big crash on the first day has been arrested. She is currently being held at a police station in the city of Brest and is facing a fine and possibly civil lawsuits from the cyclists who crashed onto the asphalt because of her careless waving of the sign.
June 29 – Riders protest on the deadly route
Today the race will be against the clock. The Israelis' ranking for yesterday (not cumulative position, but for that day):
- Andre Graipel 10
- Rick Zabel 15
- Guillaume Bairin 21
- MichaelWoods 108
- Israeli Omer Goldstein Place for Today 101
- Chris Froome 127 (so far a bitter disappointment from him, but maybe because of the first day's fall)
- Reto Hollenstein 156
Want some drama or tragedy that so characterizes this special sport and especially this Tour? So here it is: Belgian Van Moer escaped into the peloton and took the lead about halfway through the third section (yesterday), a heroic escape that... 150 meters from the finish line, was swallowed up by the wave of the Tour's sprinters.
As a consolation, he received the red jersey, which is, as we know, the warrior's jersey. M. Cavendish, another forgotten giant name, who suddenly returned like a phoenix from the depths of oblivion and burst forth and finished first in this section! A phenomenon that, at least, I don't remember the likes of.
So what did we have in this section, not a bad position for the “Israelis”. 3 dramas at the front of this column. Why do I say 3 and only mentioned two? Because I actually already mentioned the third one in their previous summary - Mathieu Van der Poel, a member of the cycling dynasty, continues to lead the column in aggregate (yellow jersey).
Oh, I almost forgot – on the initiative of the field, the riders themselves, stopped the tour for a minute of protest. A protest against the deadly route of the previous section. As mentioned, today will be a time trial section, in my opinion the least interesting section of the tour, but in terms of scoring it is very important. So see you at the next level…
June 28 – More falls
Today there are again falls in the final sections. There is a lot of anger towards the organizers. Today's route was a flat route that was expected to end in a fight for a breakaway from the peloton, which should arrive quite united right at the end to lead the sprinters of the teams to an optimal position for a breakaway.
But the road was very narrow - only about 3 meters and everyone was trying to squeeze forward. The crowding was almost uncontrollable, especially at the top speeds when the sprinters were about to take over, when they were about to break through. The inevitable happened - first at about the sixth kilometer, a sharp fall in which one of the favorites to win this stage - the Slovenian Roglic, was seriously injured, who lost a lot of time until he recovered and managed to return, injured, to the stage.
In another fall as a result of this unbearable crowding, the second favorite – Pegacher, holder of the yellow jersey from last year's Tour, was injured. But he quickly recovered and returned to the Tour and then, perhaps about 150 meters from the finish line, at the height of the breakaway, there was another collision between the two sprinters – Peter Sagan, who recovered quite quickly, but certainly not quickly enough to properly finish the sprint to the finish line, and Kavan was injured much more seriously (under medical examination to see if he could continue in the Tour).
I have heard the anger of coaches and commentators who were former riders at this dangerous organization. Instead of encouraging riding, they succeed in scaring children and parents who are scared of this sport with these hard falls. Alaphilippe maintained second place overall, only 8 seconds behind the leader, and also kept the green jersey.
Matthew Van der Paul, who wisely planned his steps towards the end and was quick to take the lead in order to avoid getting caught in the crowd, managed to finish this stage in first place, thus also managing to keep the yellow jersey for another day.
As for the ranking of the Israeli riders for today - Froome finished in 123rd place. Michael Wood, the Canadian captain of the team, finished in 125th place, while our Israeli, Amar Goldstein, finished in 157th place. Daniel Martin finished in 121st place.
And finally, one of the most charming places where the race took place today is the town of Joslin. You can read about the castle there in the article. Josselin and the Rohan Family: A Thousand Years of History.
June 27, 2021 – Froome appears to be recovering from the fall
Good news: It seems that Froome passed the tests and has no fractures. The entire Israeli team was hurt in the first day's crash, some more and some less, but there are no retirees. It is clear that it has hurt/is hurting their ability, both as a team and as individuals. How much did it hurt? We'll see later.
In the meantime, the yellow jersey has changed shoulders, from Philippe to the rider Holdi (a Frenchman by ancestry and not just any Frenchman, but his grandfather and father were legendary riders in France. His grandfather, the late, was the eternal runner-up and now his grandson has won the yellow jersey). A real dynasty of riders! It was moving to see him burst into tears when he won the yellow jersey, something that his grandfather, the late, who accompanied him in all the races, was unable to do in all the years of his glorious career.
One last thing, one of the beautiful cities featured today was Dinan, and you can read about it atThis article.
June 26, 2021 – What awaits us in the race that starts today?
Guy Niv (not to be confused with the rider Guy Sagiv…). 27 years old, originally a cross-country rider who converted to road in 2017. Israel Start-Up Nation. His area of expertise is time trial riding. In the 2020 Tour de France, he finished in 139th place out of 176 riders who started the race and out of 146 riders who finished. Seventh and last place in the Israeli Grand Prix. First representative for Israel in the Tour. This time 184 riders will start.
The legendary Chris Froome will lead the Israeli team in an attempt to fulfill the dream of winning at least one stage. It should be mentioned that Chris is a legendary rider, but since his crash two years ago he has not competed in the Tour, so his current fitness is quite a mystery.
This time, the tour is marked by the Corona pandemic. It influenced the decision of the departure point of this tour. The departure was planned from Copenhagen but due to Corona considerations it was diverted back to France to Brest which is in the region Brittany. Similarly, the start date has been moved to June 26th until July 18th. The route will be 3,383 km long, and will include the longest stage since the Tour – 248 km in stage seven! As always, the mountainous sections will determine who will be the winner.
The Tour always contains peaks that are legends in the race. This time, two will stand out among them:
Mont Ventoux
The second week of the race, which will focus on the Alps, will feature the Monza Veneto, a major battleground in the Tour for 60 years. Take for example the day Eddy Merckx (the Cannibal) briefly lost consciousness after winning a stage. Or who doesn't remember the battle between Armstrong and Marco Pantani on the way to the summit in 2000, which is considered a legendary stage in the world of cycling.
But for us, the most touching thing is Chris Froome, who, as mentioned, is adorning our team this time. He certainly hasn't forgotten how he escaped to Lerbio up the mountain in 2013, but most of all he will remember Mon in Vento in 2016. Chris Froome, with the yellow jersey on his shoulders, tried to escape to Dokko about a kilometer from the finish line! He is with two other riders.
The three collided with a motorcycle in front of them that suddenly stopped because of the large crowd and fell. The two riders who were with Froome quickly returned to their bikes to finish the course. Froome, whose bike broke, began to run towards the finish line, until his team managed to provide him with a replacement bike… This year they will climb to the summit twice!
The Pyrenees
The following week they will ride in the Pyrenees, with stage 18 – the final mountain stage of the year – also including a climb to the summit of the Col de Tourmalet, another of the race’s icons. The riders have climbed the famous pass 87 times, more than any other mountain. This climb will end with a climb to the Luz-Ardenne ski resort – a relatively short section of “only” 130km. This is the climb where Lance Armstrong was knocked out in 2003 because a spectator’s bag got tangled in his handlebars.
This time there is no clear leader for the Tour, but nevertheless, we are probably expecting an intriguing Slovenian derby for the lead – the duo of Pogačar, the outgoing leader, and his compatriot Roglic, who originally arrived, in general from the ski jumping field, appear to be favorites to win the yellow jersey.
As a viewer of the Tour on television, the experience is not only the competition and dramas that unfold along the routes, but also the view of the scenery. France The spectacular ones. The column is filmed from every possible angle, from stagecoaches accompanying the competitors on the same route with the competitors, covering all sorts of critical key points, and also from the air by helicopters. In the previous column, there was even a train that was rented to accompany a section of the route! The views are accompanied by explanations by experts. Whoever accompanies the column on the ground is a partner in a celebration in the atmosphere of an international carnival.
Those who accompany the column on the ground from the field are part of the celebration in an international carnival atmosphere – crazy costumes, a multitude of flags, rattles and trinkets, caravans, tents and umbrellas, a multitude of people from a multitude of countries speaking a multitude of languages. At key points, especially at the start or end of a section, there are stalls of all kinds – entertainment, food and souvenirs.
By the way, I have a personal point in two sections:
The one in the Alps where I was at the boarding school in Villard de Lans as a child (I have a picture from there 🙂):
And at the famous summit in the Pyrenees, which is also a ski resort, I traveled on foot with my son - crossing the Pyrenees - from the Mediterranean to the ocean... 850 km with backpacks (28 kg) on my back. The experience of a lifetime!
The race has begun and it's already a fall!
On the first day, there was an extraordinary drama. Especially for us as Israelis who follow the team that represents us. Two huge crashes occurred on this dramatic day. The first was due to a German spectator who was more interested in standing out in the photos than in the Tour itself, carrying an improvised sign with her back to the peloton racing towards her and her smiling face posing for the photographer and… the inevitable happened.
A rider entered her sign that stood out a lot into the narrow road and the entire peloton crashed into each other. Bikes broke from the force of the crash. 3 riders had to retire due to injuries. A second crash about 4 km from the finish line. The Israeli riders are not well organized and…again a huge crash. This time the Israeli riders did not escape it, I noticed at least two Israeli riders who were injured, including a rather serious one, the Israeli (!) acquisition - Christopher Froome, who barely managed to get back on his bike and finish the course.
It is unclear whether he will be able to continue the race tomorrow. He is now undergoing a series of photo tests for examination. The winner of the stage was Frenchman Antoine Alaphilippe, who, in an impressive escape on the final climb, escaped everyone. Alaphilippe is the great French hope of this Tour. In the previous Tour, while wearing the yellow jersey in another of the dramatic stages, he was disqualified due to a technical foul by his team, right before the finish. The yellow jersey was taken away from him and many points were deducted. It was clear that his spirit had been broken and he has never been able to recover since. So maybe this time?…