Regional newspaper Le Progres this weekend groaned over the long wait for a home Tour de France stage winner with the scathing headline “Bleu, Blanc, Lose,” a play on the French tri-color using “lose” instead of “Rouge.”
The issue has become a hot topic and a hot potato on an enthralling Tour featuring fans galore, eye-catching panoramas and an epic title struggle after Jonas Vingegaard knocked champion Tadej Pogacar off his perch in an Alpine stage for the ages.
Danes and Belgians have won three stages in the pulsating 109th edition of the world’s most prestigious bike race, the Dutch, Slovenians and Australians twice — but France is still sighing with disappointment.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Britain’s Tom Pidcock and Bob Jungels of Luxembourg won the other stages, but at least the latter races for a French team — AG2R Citroen Team.
The charismatic climber Thibaut Pinot of Groupama-FDJ has come closest for France, with a long-range bid on Saturday giving him a third place for the second time.
“I’m so disappointed,” Pinot said, reflecting the general mood of French cycling.
“It takes a little bit of luck, a little bit of legs, a little bit of everything,” he said.
A man who seems to make his own luck, Julian Alaphilippe was described as “the Darling of France” as he dashed around in the overall leader’s yellow jersey for most of the 2018 Tour.
France’s double world champion Alaphilippe won a stage on each of the last four Tours, but hit a tree at high speed in the buildup to this one.
His swashbuckling win on Stage 1 last year is France’s last, meaning that if no French rider won yesterday’s run to Carcassonne on stage 15, the wait would have stretched to 36 stages and counting.
Another missing man is FDJ sprinter Arnaud Demare, who won three stages on the Giro d’Italia this season but skipped this race as his team focusses on the mountains.
France might not have to wait too long, with a trilogy of Pyrenean Mountain stages coming up this week and a trident of domestic hopes capable of delivering what French fans often love best: a sudden burst of Gallic flair delivering triumph in the face of adversity.
Pinot has previously achieved this, sending his emotional team boss Marc Madiot into delirium on the Col du Tourmalet in 2019.
“I’m looking forwards to the Pyrenees, those long climbs are the kind that suit me,” he said, and his recent win on the Tour de Suisse suggests this is more than bluster.
Pinot’s younger teammate David Gaudu is also talking up a fight after finding his form on Saturday’s final climb accompanied by blockbuster crowds.
“I unleashed the horses and boy did they run. Now I’m in the mood for it and I can’t wait to get to the Pyrenees,” he said.
Gaudu is eighth in the overall leaderboard, just 4 minutes, 24 seconds off the lead, and he and Pinot might focus on getting him into the top five rather than winning a stage.
Ahead of him is Romain Bardet in fourth breathing down Ineos Grenadiers leader Geraint Thomas’ neck.
“Romain seems to be on the form of his life,” Thomas said, warning that Vingegaard and Pogacar have a series of challengers.
Bardet was more gloomy on the issue.
“It’ll have to be an ambush. Vingegaard and Pogacar are superior to the rest of us. There are four of us all fighting for third place,” he said.
Bardet suggested he would sacrifice a potential place on the podium in Paris for a stage win.
“If I get even a glimpse of an opportunity I’ll go for it even if it’s risky, a stage win remains my top priority,” Bardet said.
France would certainly thank him for it.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS