⛰️ The Tour returns to its highest roads for a major stage in the very highest mountains! ⛰️ Le Tour retrouve ses routes les plus hautes pour une grande étape en très haute montagne ! #TDF2024
Marc Madiot doesn't think Tour de France will be flipped: "Vingegaard will fight, but Pogacar is in euphoria"
CyclingFriday, 19 July 2024 at 12:10
Tadej Pogacar have had massive battles in the past three years at the Tour de France but this year may have actually surpassed those of the past. The two seem to be at their highest ever level in the mountains of the Grand Boucle, and Groupama - FDJ manager Marc Madiot doesn't believe the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider will be able to turn the race on it's head in the remaining three days.
And for Madiot, it seems quite simple what should happen in the mountain stages that remain: "I think Pogacar will do it again, either on Friday or Saturday. Vingegaard will fight, but Pogacar is in euphoria, the momentum is on his side," he says to Cyclism'Actu. "The high mountain stages at the end of the Tour are always scary, because you can put everything you have put in place can collapse in a few moments. I think there is a little apprehension among many."
Thus far Vingegaard was able to match Pogacar on a few difficult stages, most impressively the gravel day on stage 9, and then outsprinting him to victory in Le Lioran on stage 11. At this point in the race it seemed like deja vu, as the gaps were small and the momentum seemed to be growing in the direction of the Dane who had until then raced defensively, waiting for stage 15 to do damage. However he wasn't able to, as he faced a Pogacar that has shown his best ever level and seemingly overcame the weak points he's had in the past.
However with these performances also come a lot of skepticism, specially as many compared the obvious name of Marco Pantani, whose record in Plateau de Beille was beaten by three and a half minutes by the Slovenian this past Sunday. "It's part of the climate, of the panorama," Madiot believes. "It's the role of observers to ask questions and ensure that the light stays on, as Roger Legeay, president of the MPCC would say. It's the role of the authorities to do the work. The teams, the riders... finance the work, so it has to be done to raise all potential questions".
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