A five-day mountain festival begins with the ride up the Grand Colombier in the battle of the seconds between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar.
Until next Wednesday, the Danish leader of the 110th Tour de France and his Slovenian rival will be duelling in the Jura and the Alps. The duo are the favourites for each other.
Vingegaard focuses on the last week of the Tour de France
The situation for Vingegaard: the shy-looking Dane is betting everything on the final week. "So far there haven't been any stages that have been consistently demanding and where fatigue has accumulated. Those are yet to come. The Alps suit me better," said Vingegaard and was surprised to have already taken the yellow jersey on the sixth stage. One of those tough, long climbs that the lightweight from Jutland likes so much is undoubtedly the Grand Colombier with its 17 kilometres.
Remote diagnosis via performance
The situation for Pogacar: "The momentum is a bit with me at the moment," said Pogacar. Although the 24-year-old had only lost a minute to Vingegaard at the start of the Pyrenees, he fought back at the mountain top finishes in Cauterets-Cambasque and on the Puy de Dôme. The two-time Tour winner is unwaveringly optimistic and made fun of the fact that Team Jumbo-Visma made a remote diagnosis of his performance.
"They don't know my stats, they don't know how much I weigh. They may be able to make assumptions, but they can't be sure," said Pogacar. In any case, the lack of training due to his scaphoid fracture at the end of April is not noticeable.
Roof of the Tour de France on the Col de la Loze
This is where the decision is made: The Grand Colombier is difficult, but is unlikely to be decisive. The Alpine farewell on Wednesday is predestined for the zenith of the duel, when the race heads to Courchevel. Shortly before the finish, the Col de la Loze must be conquered, which not only stands out due to its length of 28.1 kilometres, but also due to its altitude of 2304 metres. The route to the roof of the Tour is up to 24 per cent steep, the pass is crossed for the first time in Tour history, before heading to the finish at the 2000 metre high Courchevel airfield.
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