Murad Al Masry (Abu Dhabi)
The UAE Cycling Team will resume the 111th edition of the Tour de France on Tuesday, after a 24-hour break for all participating teams to catch their breath after the end of the ninth stage, amid anticipation for the next six stages, before the second and final stop of the race, which extends until July 21.
The UAE Cycling Team, led by Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, is back in the competition, aiming to maintain its lead in the team and individual standings, which the team has held tightly over the past six stages.
Six consecutive stages will be held, including three mountain challenges. The tenth stage starts today, covering 187.3 km, on flat terrain, followed by the eleventh stage, covering 211 km on a mountainous track, the twelfth stage, covering 203.6 km on flat terrain, and the thirteenth stage, covering 165.3 km, also on flat terrain, before the fourteenth and fifteenth stages, covering 151.9 km and 197.7 km on a mountainous track.
There is a rest day (July 15) before the next six and final rounds towards the podium.
The UAE Cycling Team currently leads the team standings, with a total time of 107:13:01 hours, while its leader Pogacar wears the “yellow jersey” for the individual leader, with a time of 35:42:42 hours.
“I am enjoying the competition so far and I am only focusing on doing my best, without thinking about the current standings,” Pogacar said after the ninth stage. “The ninth round was a big surprise, in terms of the ‘rough terrain’, but I had a great time during it. There were a lot of challenges with the rocks and sand. There was competition and a chase between us for the top spot, and in the end this was a positive result.”
“After the ninth stage, which is one of the most difficult days of the tour so far, I had to take advantage of the rest day, because the next stages are also difficult. In general, I feel confident and happy with the way we started the competition and I am trying to enjoy the event,” he added.
It is known that the French cyclist Anthony Turgie gave his country the third victory in the “111th edition”, by taking first place in the ninth stage in Troyes, which is the third French victory in this edition, after Romain Bardet and Kevin Vaukelin excelled in the first two stages.
After a crazy race marked by numerous attacks and fierce competition between the most prominent candidates to win the title, Turgi took the lead in the final sprint over his pursuers, defeating Britain’s Tom Pidcock and Canada’s Derek Dji, achieving his first and most prominent victory in his career.
“It’s unbelievable, it’s been a long time since I won, and I’ve been looking forward to a big victory for many years,” said the 30-year-old, who was very emotional, dedicating his achievement to his family and friends.
A classics specialist, Turgid finished second in the Milan-San Remo and also gave his TotalEnergies team its first Tour de France win since Lilian Calmejan in 2017.
The ninth stage, before the rest day yesterday, concluded the first wonderful week of the Tour de France, with the famous British cyclist Mark Cavendish (39 years old) increasing his number of victories, and the Eritrean Binyam Ghermay achieving his first victory, in addition to fierce battles for the “yellow jersey”.
There was no change in the provisional overall standings, with Pogacar (UAE Cycling) maintaining a 33-second lead over Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quickstep) and 1:15 minutes over Danish Jonas Vingegaard (Visma), the title holder for the past two years.
The main favourites did their best to advance in the standings of this stage, such as Pogacar, the winner in 2020 and 2021, who attacked twice in the last 22 kilometres, but without being able to take the lead alone.
Evenepoel also tried to break away from the rest of the riders 70 km before the finish line, and only Pogacar and Vingegaard kept up with him.
In a very rare sight in the Tour, the three riders joined the front group, with Turgii establishing himself as the fastest, crossing the finish line in first place.
Top five overall
1- Tadej Pogacar 35:42.42 hours
2- Remco Evenepoel by 33 seconds
3- Jonas Vingegaard by 1.15 minutes
4- Primoz Roglic, 1.36 minutes behind.
5- Juan Ayuso, 2.16 minutes behind.
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