LEnnard Kämna got off his bike, completely exhausted, then looked down the runway of the airfield in Megeve with anxious eyes. The decisive question in the final act of the drama: where is Tadej Pogacar? Is it enough to conquer the yellow jersey? The sobering answer: No! Kämna was eleven seconds short of slipping into the maillot jaune as the 15th German professional cyclist.
In any case, Kämna quickly had the reasons for the missed yellow coup and the clearly missed second tour stage win of his career in tenth place. “It just didn’t work at all. Today I had the feeling that everyone was racing against me in the leading group,” said the pro from Bora-hansgrohe, who climbed to second place overall, on ARD: “It really wasn’t fun going up the last hill. In the end I drove everything I had.”
His sports director Torsten Schmidt was still very satisfied with his protégé despite the missed surprise coup: “The goal was to win the stage with Lenny. But when the gap was so big, we had a chance to get yellow. It’s a pity that it didn’t work out so close.”
However, one jersey remains in German hands: At the same time, compatriot Simon Geschke defended the mountain jersey he conquered on Sunday over the 148.1 km. Defending champion Pogacar still has a lot to worry about despite the narrowly defended overall lead after the second corona case, which became known in his UAE team before the stage. The day’s victory went to the Dane Magnus Cort Nielsen. Georg Zimmermann took sixth place as the best German.
In August 2020, Kämna had celebrated his first professional victory at the Criterium du Dauphine at the top of the Megeve airfield, a month later he celebrated his first tour success in Villard-de-Lans with an impressive solo ride on stage 16.
A climate strike stops the race
On the first “real” rest day on Monday, Kämna underpinned his ambitions after only just missing out on victory on Friday. “There are still a couple of beautiful mountain stages, I will definitely try it again. There will still be a chance,” said the German time trial champion.
After what was expected to be a turbulent initial phase, it took almost 65 km for a breakaway group to form. And Kämna didn’t miss it. Zimmermann was also in the group of 25 riders. At the top, the group drove over nine minutes to the main field around dominator Pogacar. Even a short-term climate strike did not initially upset Kämna and Co.
The incident happened a good 36 kilometers from the finish in Megève. At that time, the Italian Alberto Bettiol was in front, who had broken away from a large breakaway group with Kämna. The peloton was a good seven minutes behind.
TV pictures showed up to 20 demonstrators on the street detonating pyrotechnics. On Twitter, climate activists took responsibility for the action. The tour organization announced that the stage should continue after the neutralization with the same time intervals. The race resumed about ten minutes later.
Kämna’s strength is fading
In the gripping 21 km long climb up to Megeve, Kämna’s strength was visibly dwindling, the exciting finale of the breakaway group, which Cort won in the photo finish, he only followed from a distance. Then the wait for Pogacar began. But the Slovenian was eleven seconds too fast.
The second mountain finish is on the program in the Alps on Wednesday – and it’s tough. 36 years after the first and so far last visit to the Tour of France at the Col du Granon Serre Chevalier, Pogacar must not show any weaknesses against his worst opponents. It is a key stage of this tour.
#German #Tour #France #Kämna #eleven #seconds #short #yellow #jersey