(Saint-Gervais) A legendary place for an epic duel: Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, the two inseparable from the Tour de France, compete at a distance on Tuesday during an alpine time trial which takes the mythical coast of Domancy, where Bernard Hinault forged one of his greatest exploits.
Honor reserved for the yellow jersey, Vingegaard will start last, at 5 p.m. sharp (11 a.m. Quebec time), just after his Slovenian rival, for about 36 minutes of effort on a course as short (22.4 km) as demanding between Passy and Combloux.
The profile of this 16e stage, with the terrible Domancy hill (2.5 km at 9.4%) on the menu, is perfectly suited to the two champions who hold themselves in 10 seconds in the general classification and will want to set the record straight on Tuesday in Haute- Savoy.
A duel at the top
If the Tour could switch on Tuesday, it is difficult to designate a favorite between the two ogres, irresistible in the mountains and excellent riders, who say together that they “love” the route very much. “Changes of pace suit me perfectly,” says Vingegaard. “It’s the kind of chrono that I love,” replies Pogacar.
“It’s a time trial for mountaineers”, says the architect of the route, Thierry Gouvenou. “There is Domancy of course, but also the coast of the Cascade de Cœur from the start. And after Domancy, there are still three, four kilometers of climbing until the finish. It’s hard. And in addition it is the day after the rest day, ”he adds. “You really have to be at the top of your game. It’s made for the two protagonists there. I don’t see who could play with them on such a length of ascent”, adds Bernard Hinault, the master of the place.
In the lair of the “Badger”
Domancy is so intimately linked to Bernard Hinault that the road bears his name today. It is here that the “Blaireau” became world champion in 1980 on a monstrously tough course, taking the Domancy coast… 20 times. Hinault won a minute ahead of the Italian Gianbattista Baronchelli after crushing the field. Only 15 runners managed to finish.
“There were a lot of Italian supporters shouting, the border is right next to it. But when I escaped, we no longer heard them, ”recalls Hinault with a carnivorous smile. He announced his victory on the evening of the 1976 Worlds where he complained about the lack of support from his teammates. “I went to see the national trainer, Richard Marillier, a Legion colonel. I told him: well, we will be world champions in 1980. We didn’t even know where it was going to be yet. When I saw the course, I knew I wouldn’t have too many worries. »
Change bike or not?
The course, alternating uphill and flat parts or slightly downhill, poses a complex equation for the teams: change bike or not? “I’m curious to see what they will do in terms of material management. We know that on big slopes, a time trial bike is not effective”, underlines Gouvenou. In 2020, in the time trial at the Planche des Belles Filles where Pogacar had knocked down Primoz Roglic, all the favorites had taken a climber’s bike at the foot of the last climb. But the profile of the stage was different, longer (36 km) and with a flatter part at the start. “Here it’s complicated, a very special, technical time”, underlines Joxean Matxin, sports director of Pogacar at UAE, who refuses to give his plans for Tuesday. Neither did Groupama-FDJ leader David Gaudu. But his teammate Thibaut Pinot says he will change bikes. Conversely, the Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos), third overall, believes that “it is not worth it compared to the risk that it constitutes and the time that we lose” in the operation.
And after ?
The gap between Vingegaard and Pogacar is so small that the slightest sparkle could make the difference. Difficult to imagine, however, that the Tour will be played on Tuesday evening. Because the time is too short to create irremediable gaps. And that there are still two very difficult stages, Wednesday in the Alps and Saturday in the Vosges. Wednesday’s odyssey between Saint-Gervais and Courchevel is, on paper, the most difficult of all, with in particular the ascent of the Col de la Loze, “a monster so steep that at times you only see the sky”, explains Hinault. With 5100 meters of vertical drop, the Col des Saisies and the Cormet de Roselend as an aperitif, before the arrival on the Courchevel altiport track pitched up at 18%, there will be enough to shake the certainties of the day before.
