Finish the first part of the Tour de France, which started in Denmark and is close to facing the second week with the Alps in between.
Tadej Pogacar dominates a general that has changed, in which the best Colombian is Nairo Quintana, tenth.
(Nairo Quintana: strong criticism of his colleagues in the 2022 Tour de France)
(Daniel Martínez: the reason for his loss of time is known)
Here are what has happened in the first nine days of the race.
Pogacar, without rivals
There is no doubt Tadej Pogacar came to this edition of the Tour as the top candidatethere are nine stages, he is already the leader and there is no one who can take him down from there.
The Slovenian rider of the UAE Emirates team has won two stages, he already has Jonas Vingegaard, second overall at 39 s, and Geraint Thomas, third, at 1 min 17 s.
Before the race it was said that his teammates were his Achilles heel, but it has not been like that, they have behaved up to the task.
In the head to head Pogacar has obtained its best dividends and only covid-19 could take him out of the race.
close rivals
The first part of the Tour leaves Vingegaard well off, who stalks the leader, has tried to keep up with him and is the one who has lost the least. Behind are Thomas and Yates, who survive and maintain a regularity.
David Gaudu stands out, fifth at 1 min 38 s, far from Pogacar and when there are two weeks left to finish the race. It is praiseworthy what Romain Bardet and Thomas Pidcock have done, who remain, as well as Enric Mas, who is eighth overall.
Nairo, with experience
Nairo Quintana is the best Colombian. The boyacense continues with the ‘hard’, holding on, and is part of the ‘top’ 10, at a difference of 2 min, 13 s, with the option of advancing. This week the stages of the Alps come and there he can continue in the trend of not giving up ground.
The leader of the Arkea-Samsic team is 56 s behind Thomas, who is third, and 33 s from fifth place. It is taken for granted that Pidcock, seventh, and Powelss, ninth, must not finish in the top 10, so two more places can be won.
And those who come behind have an advantage. Aleksandr Vlasov is almost a minute behind, as are Damiano Carusso and Alexey Lutsento, who could be his enemies in the fight.
Nairo knows how to run intelligently and only by holding his pace can he achieve the goal of finishing in the ‘top’ five. His goal is the podium, no one says he can’t get it, but it looks difficult.
Urán and Daniel raised their hands
Rigoberto Urán has not had health, nor luck. He crashed, already in the first three stages he had lost the chance to fight for the podium.
He fell on Saturday and that hurt him. On Sunday he attacked, he went on the run, he was partial leader of the Tour, but the strong pace and the ambitions of the main lot ruined his goal.
It occupies square 22 and all that remains is for the race to finish, which he arrived after the covid-19 in the Tour of Switzerland and not doing a good preparation. In addition, he is in a team that, like the EF, does not know what he is running for, he does it to the local and in search of fishing in a troubled river.
Martínez, who declared that he had been ill for three days, He did not respond and 21 km from the finish line on Sunday he dropped and lost 16 minutes 12 seconds at the finish line, leaving behind his mission of fighting for the podium.
Now he is 30 and loses 17 minutes 12 seconds. At the Tour you have to reach one hundred percent, the race does not forgive and a runner without health has everything to lose.
It will be up to him to help Thomas and Yates and try to find a stage win. Well, first he has to recover, but he has already lost the option of the podium.
Other victims
At least Martínez is still in the race, others have left and have lost the chance to fight for the title. Such is the case of Primoz Roglic, who lost ground due to a fall and more than two minutes into the general classification, has lost the race.
Roglic is Jumbo Visma’s second card after Vingegaard, but it is clear that the Tour is not for him, as bad luck is around him again.
Guillaume Martin left due to covid-19, while Vlasov has fallen and has also lost important ground.
The covid is a serious threat in the caravan, that is why no one is free to leave for a positive, so the Tour, two weeks from the end, is not clear about its end.
(Tour de France 2022: classifications, after stage 9)
(Rigoberto Urán does not cover the sun with a finger, he spoke clearly about the Tour de France)
⛰ Stage 9 saw the rider head into the Alps, relive the day from inside the #PTO2022 platoon.
⛰ The 9ème étape a vu le peloton entrer dans les Alpes. Revivez cette journée de l’intérieur du platoon. pic.twitter.com/2726vV4X6X
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 10, 2022
Lisandro Rengifo
Editor of THE TIME
@lisandroabel
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