Much was said today about the sudden demise of Tadej Pogacar on the steep gradients of the Col de la Loze climb. Pogacar was perhaps the most eloquent, summing up his debacle in four short words.
“I’m gone, I’m dead”
That covered his loss of 5:45 to Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) and the end of his hopes of winning a third Tour de France in four years. It puts an end to a season that started brilliantly and ended with his aura of invivncibility destroyed.
There will be no resurrection in this year’s Tour.
Yesterday in the time trial, it was a shock to see Pogacar lose over a minute and a half. Today the shock was even more devastating. Vingegaard handed out an physical, mental and emotional beating. The second coming of the Cannibal story now gets a full re-write.
Pogacar had big plans for this day in the Alps. They could also be summed up in three short words: attack, attack, attack. Hammer the Dane has early and as hard as possible. Throw his whole team into an improbable mission to take back his deficit. Hope that it was Vingegaard’s turn to crack or slide off a mountain descent.
That scenario ended not with a bang, but a whimper. He got off to a bad start with an early crash that must have dented morale and perhaps his energy level. Half way up the final climb, he already knew the legs were gone.
You could also feel the disbelief run through the yellow jersey group as Pogar drifted to the back and then cracked for good. Sure, he’d had his jour sans in last year’s Tour on the Col de Granon but this was immesurably worse.
Even Pogacar wasn’t sure why his body wouldn’t respond, why his boundless energy had disappeared. “I don’t know what happened,” he said. “I tried to eat as much as possible but it was like nothing would go into my legs, everything stayed in my stomach. I was feeling so empty after three and a half hours.”
A few observant people had seen it coming. There were signs in the last few days. Pogacar’s face appeared a bit more drawn, even gaunt. His eyes had a glassy look that cued a dwindling level of reserves in a race with no mercy. He went deep in yesterday’s time trial just trying to limit the damage to Vingegaard. Perhaps the well and the watts had run out.
“Today was one of the worst days of my life on the bike,” said Pogacar. Marc [Soler] kept on encouraging me to keep on fighting and I hope I can recover and perhaps go for another stage win on Saturday. I have to keep fighting.”
The Slovenian still remains in second place on the general classification but he’s a massive 7:35 down with one mountain stage left. It’s not even a theoretical possibility. It turns out that for Pogacar the Col de la Loze was his Col be la Lose. My kingdom for a new wrist and a full block of training!
Baring illness or misfortune, Jonas VIngegaard will win the 2023 Tour de France, tying him with Pogacar at two wins each. If this Tour has been epic, imagine a hyper-motivated Pogacar arriving at next year’s Tour ready to settle the score in his favor.
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