In Italy, July 1985 is remembered for the appointment of Francesco Cossiga as president of the Republic, for the tragedy of the Val di Stava and for the thud of the lira – on the same day of the terrible landslide on the 19th of the month – with the dollar splashing altitude 2200. In France, no one would remember July of that year if they hadn't been forced to go back a long way to find the last Frenchman to win the Tour. After 34 years, never before have the inhabitants of the Exagone dreamed of being able to update the triumphal image of Bernard Hinault in yellow on the Champs Elysées with the equally victorious one of a home rider, with Julian Alaphilippe in yellow 48 hours from the final catwalk in Paris or with Thibaut Pinot, who had proved to be the strongest climber on the Pyrenees and that everyone was the favorite for the Alpine stages.
Hopes vanished yesterday within a few hours, first with the dramatic withdrawal of Pinot, then with the surrender of Alaphilippe in a stage interrupted by a hail cyclone, with the roads invaded by waves of mud. Only 36 km of the stage had been covered when Pinot set foot on the ground, destroyed by pain from a muscle injury which had already affected him on Thursday on the Galibier and which practically prevented him from pedaling yesterday. A farewell to the Tour, the fourth in his career of this fragile and unfortunate pedal champion, between tears and desperation while the Iseran with its 2770 meters loomed on the horizon, the giant of the Alps who was there waiting for him for a another great exploit.
Pinot who was fifth in the standings left the scene, he accomplished the feat on the hairpin bends leading to the highest peak of the Tour Egan Bernal, the 22-year-old Colombian, that he took off showing off all his class as a climber, a mix of agility and power, plus the natural aptitude for high altitudes, having been born in the Andean city of Zipaquira at over 2600 meters above sea level.
This time, we don't know if it's due to team play or lack of legs, Geraint Thomas he gave the green light to his partner, who one by one went first to pick up and then also disconnect Nibali and Uran went on the run with another twenty riders including Simon Yates, the only one who tried to resist the action of the unleashed Colombian for longer. For Alaphilippe, who had kept pace with the best up to 6 km from the summit, the Iseran proved to be fatal: the yellow jersey defended itself with his teeth but as the Gpm passed he accused a delay of more than two minutes from Bernal, who in fact, also thanks to the 8” bonus, was in fact the new virtual yellow jersey. Alaphilippe counted on recovering on the descent but Bernal, joined by Yates, maintained a reassuring lead with the prospect of increasing it on the final climb to Tignes. But the Tour never arrived in Tignes because an exceptional hailstorm in the Isére valley was making the roads impassable on which even a sea of mud from the mountain ridges was collapsing.
The organizers decided to neutralize the stage which remains without a winner, but which counts (and how it counts!) for the classification because the times and the gaps marked at the top of the Iseran are attesting. Making this clear to the riders and stopping them at 80 km/h on the Iseran descent wasn't easy. Bernal felt an instinctive sense of frustration as if a plot had been orchestrated by the French to boycott his performance which was taking him to the top of the charts.
Behind Thomas' squad was also Nibali who was busy making Uran understand that throwing his head down in pursuit of Bernal was now completely senseless. Bernal's mood changed completely when he was informed that it was the new yellow jersey and that they were waiting for him on the podium in Tignes for the ritual dressing. He is the third Colombian to wear the symbol of primacy but most likely he will be the first Colombian to wear it in Paris.
Bernal restarts today from Albertville with a 48" lead over Alaphilippe who leaves the yellow jersey worn for 14 days in an interrupted stage, which saw him succumb on the Iseran but which leaves one wondering what would have happened if he had reached Tignes : in the downhill the Frenchman could have reduced if not closed the gap from Bernal, but on the final ascent he could have also lost the podium to the advantage of Thomas who is now third at 1'16" followed by Krujiswick at 1'28" and by Buchmann at 1'55”.
Bernal is one step away from historic success but with five riders enclosed in less than two minutes it will be today's stage with the arrival at over 2300 meters in Val Thorens that will decide the definitive podium of this beautiful Tour, fought to the last in the mountains, even if the violent cyclone that it hit the Alps, with hailstorms and landslides, after interrupting yesterday's stage, forcing the organizers to shorten today's stage as well by abolishing the dreaded climb to the Cormet du Roselend. An advantage for Alaphilippe who could even risk leaving the podium? For the French and for Macron himself, who hoped so much for Pinot and Alaphilippe, yesterday was truly a day to forget: the dream of the yellow jersey having vanished, only the nightmare of the vest remains of that color.
