
Jonas ABRAHAMSEN. 10 and praise. Historic and well-deserved victory for the 29-year-old Norwegian from Uno X Mobility. A race taken head-on, where in the end they pin a medal on him. An attacking race, in a short but leg-breaking stage, which on the eve of the Pyrenees is not the best appetizer. Here they don't think about tomorrow, here they think about today, about the present, Jonas thinks about writing a piece of history that for UnoX is a great story, that smells like a fairy tale.
Mauro SCHMID. 10. In the end, if they make it to the sprint, a large part of the credit goes to the Swiss champion, the Jayco AlUla rider who pulls to prevent a rampant Van der Poel from coming back. He exhausts himself to arrive at the sprint and arrives completely spent. Better second than third, even though he also deserved to win.
Mathieu VAN DER POEL. 9. In hindsight, one can say he started a moment too late. In truth, he will explain to us that he didn't know there were still two riders ahead, due to a difficult day for radio reception. In any case, his action is crazy, of rare beauty, of sublime class. Tour things, which here are renewed from stage to stage, with absolute level athletes who even in transitional stages decide to always put on a show, because they are always champions.
Arnaud DE LIE. 7.5. Low on results, he also decides to attack, to give meaning to his Tour. He chooses a non-trivial stage, certainly complicated for him, but comes out with good indications.
Wout VAN AERT. 5. He follows Mathieu like a shadow, but in the end the Dutchman does what he wants and the Belgian does what he can.
Davide BALLERINI. 6.5. The 30-year-old XDS-Astana rider tries immediately, ready go, with Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X), who will go on to win, and Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) who will play out the stage in a two-man sprint. The Italian tries to fight and does so for a placement (10th) that in any case has its value.
Ben HEALY. 7. Races with clarity and authority. Pogacar falls and he goes to the front of the group asking not to attack him. The group listens to him.
Tadej POGACAR. 5. In the finale he gets distracted, gets tangled up and falls: banality, but it's never nice.
Jonas VINGEGAARD. 6.5. Yesterday the hornets didn't hold back: they buzzed around the world champion with obsessive continuity, trying to get on his nerves. In the end the Slovenian goes off track, who knows if as a direct consequence of this torment. One thing is certain, after many attacks and mini-attacks, tomorrow there are the Pyrenees: end of pranks, end of tickling.