Three legendary cols over 2 metres, 5 meters in altitude to overcome: for years the Tour has not climbed the Vars, the Izoard and the Galibier on the same day and the wait was rewarded by the show that was broadcast, throbbing and compelling, in a breathtaking setting in which Julian Alaphilippe has once again withstood the onslaught of rivals on his yellow jersey and Nairo Quintana is back the Condor that hasn't been seen for a long time, dominating the Galibier in a big way, springboard for his triumph on the finishing line of Valloire with gaps of other times. We expected another show of the super popular Pinot, instead it's them - without forgetting Egan Bernal, who has thrown the hierarchies at Ineos into turmoil – the great protagonists of the most beautiful stage of this Tour which sees Alaphilippe still in yellow for the 14th day but who, two days before the catwalk on the Champs Elysées, still does not have a sure master with six runners packed into just over 2 minutes.
“Touché, pas coulé”, so the yellow jersey commented hotly in his stage. Struck but not sunk: that's right, Alaphilippe suffered in the last hard hairpin bends of the Galibier when, after Egan Bernal had flown away from the already skimmed group of the best, Geraint Thomas also took off, unleashing the tussle and raising the pace of the ascent kept bland by Eric Mas so as not to send Alaphilippe out of revs. The French immediately suffered the change of pace and broke away accusing a delay of about twenty seconds at the passage to the 2.646 meters of the Galibier but in the descent, drawing perfect trajectories in the bends, he swooped on Thomas who in the meantime had also been joined by Pinot, Krujiswjick , Buchmann, Landa, Porte and Uran. Not only that, by putting his skills as a downhill skier to good use, he even managed for a short distance to distance all his rivals. All eight arrived at the finish line together with the same time at 5'18” from Quintana. The only one to gain ground, among the big names chasing the yellow jersey in the standings, was Bernal who finished eighth, 32 seconds before Alaphilippe's squad.
A gap that allows the Colombian to overtake Thomas in the standings by 5” – taking second place in the standings 1'30” behind the yellow jersey – but which could have been greater if the Welshman hadn't sped off by accelerating his pace. Upon arrival Thomas denied that his was an action to chase his teammate rather to embarrass Alaphiilippe. But the atmosphere that swept at the end of the stroke at Ineos was not the most serene even if Bernal threw water on the fire claiming that everything had been planned at the table. But who believes it? It is known that at the Ineos – which took over unseen by Sky – the English capitals continue to lay down the law to such an extent – it is said – that they influence competitive choices. Already today in a stage that includes the ascent to 2.770 meters of the Iseran and the uphill finish in Tignes, we will see what freedom will be granted to Bernal who yesterday showed off all his class and brilliance on the finish of the Galibier which Thomas does not currently have.
If Ineos has its problems with two co-leaders who seem to be at odds like Salvini and Di Maio in the yellow-green government, also the Movistar, which has three valuable pieces to manage (Quintana, Landa and Valverde), ended up in the meat grinder of controversy to often implement incomprehensible tactics such as the one seen yesterday, when halfway up the Izoard, even before entering the lunar landscape of the Casse deserte, to raise the pace in Alaphilippe's group took turns Valverde, Soler and Landa, with the result of halving the advantage of more than 9 minutes that Quintana had accumulated over Vars, the first hill faced with a record average.
Quintana had entered the breakaway that began shortly after the start of 34 riders including Romain Bardet, Adam Yates and Damiano Caruso who will pass first on top of the Izoard. At Movistar they justified this move because a Landa attack was planned. But Landa, like Pinot, yesterday was not in a good mood. So he soon gave up the offensive, content not to lose Thomas's wheels, but the damage was done. Quintana, which after so many disappointing stages had put the Condor's wings back, lengthened with the pedaling of the best moments when Galibier ceased to share the road with Lautaret presenting the most severe traits: no one could resist the Colombian's rediscovered vein who created a vacuum behind him, even increasing his advantage over the group in the yellow jersey.
A feat that recalls that of Andy Schleck in the 2011 Tour that the Luxembourger, yellow magic at the end of the Galibier stage, lost due to the outcome of the time trial the following day which handed the symbol of primacy to Cadel Evans, the first Australian to win the Tour. On the Vars yesterday Quintana, who was almost 10 minutes behind Alaphilippe in the standings, was virtually very close to the yellow jersey. The tactic decided by Movistar on the Izoard eventually proved to be semi-suicide by damaging a giant size Quintana. But finally on the winner's podium, back in the top ten in seventh place at 3'54” bypassing Landa and Valverde, Quintana's face of the eternal sphinx opened up with wide and liberating smiles.
