On 13 July 50 years ago, struck down by the heat and a deadly cocktail of drugs and cognac, Tommy Simpson died while climbing the Ventoux. A tragic page in the history of the Tour and of cycling that ripped the veil on the devastating advance of doping in racing. And a case of doping, with less dramatic consequences, comes to mind today as the Tour tackles the Pyrenees climbing the Port de Balès before Peyresourde and the high altitude finish at Peyragudes: on the Port de Balés a chain jump by Andy Schleck who in the yellow jersey he was stretching, unleashed the counterattack by Contador who, paying little attention to fair play, detached the Luxembourger conquering the yellow jersey.
Contador won his third Tour but in a doping test at the end of the stage he tested positive for clenbuterol. An immediately complicated story: between analysis and counter-analysis, seasoned with doubts and oaths of innocence by the rider who blamed a veal steak eaten in a hotel, the two-year disqualification sentence was delayed quite a bit, arriving even after the 2011 Tour, won by Cadel Evans, which Contador raced to place fourth. A heavy punishment on a sporting level, not only for the image of the champion, because the Pistolero was deprived of the victory not only of the Tour (awarded to Andy Schleck) but also that of the 2011 Giro d'Italia (awarded to Michele Scarponi).
Since then Contador, despite winning a Vuelta and his second Giro in 2015, was no longer able to be a protagonist in the Tour. Also this year he is now out of contention, detached by more than 5 minutes from Froome: moreover his falls follow one another which are never a good sign, regardless of the physical damage. Yesterday too, in a totally flat stage, the Spaniard put his butt on the ground. Worse than what happened to him for Cataldo (forced to retire) and Fuglsand (infraction of the wrist and elbow), but the Spanish champion's morale is always lower. In the Tour finished seven years ago in Schleck, Cavendish won five stages of the 30 conquered in his career.
Even that Martian of the sprint descended in France, Marcel Kittel, has already made his five stages in this year's Grande Boucle: once again yesterday on the mythical finish line of Pau - at 240 meters from which Maciej Bodnar's dream of victory vanished. in extremis after a long solitary escape – the German imposed himself with a ridiculous ease by opening a gap in the middle of the road and slipping like a rocket: for Groenevegen and Boasson-Hagen there was only the umpteenth placement. Kittel, after yesterday's poker game, brought his tally of stage wins to 14 on the Tour.
He is now the most successful German rider, overtaking Zabel and Greipel. Merckx's all-time record (34 wins) is still some way off. But winning 5 stages in just 11 days of racing makes Kittel the second rider of all time in the history of the Tour. François Fabre did better than him only in the distant 1909 in a 14-stage Tour that was still contested with the points classification and not in time. Fabre will die six years later in the battle of the Artois during the First World War. In this Tour, given his undisputed superiority over the other sprints, Kittel can still aim to equal the record of 8 stages won in the same edition, a record held by Charles Pelissier (1930), Eddy Merckx (1970 3 1974) and Freddy Martens (1976).
The Tour still includes three tailor-made arrivals for sprinters: in Romans-sur-Isère (Tuesday 18 July), in Salon-de-Provence (Friday 21 July), in Parigli on the Champs Elyséès in the final catwalk on Sunday 24 July. Today Kittel leaves the proscenium to the climbers and big names fighting for the yellow jersey. He will just have to take care to arrive within the maximum time limit in order not to waste the great opportunity to win the green jersey for the first time as leader – so far undisputed – of the points classification.
New attacks on Froome's yellow jersey are expected in the Pyrenees: Aru, Bardet and even the surprising Uran have to come up with something to break the dominance of Froome and Team Sky. Waiting for the Alps could prove to be a late tactic. Also for Quintana it is an opportunity not to be wasted to try to get back in the podium area after the opaque performance on the Jura massif.
