Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature 45km to go: The Col de Spandelles approaches, and perhaps this is the moment for Pogacar. Updated at 15.05 BST 50km to go: The peloton is led over the Col du Soulor by Nathan Van Hooydonck of the Jumbotron, with Pogacar and Vingegaard at close quarters. Ciccone is having a dig off the front of the leading pack while Nairo Quintana, a daredevil descender, is leading an attack on the descent. Pogacar goes with him, Vingegaard asked to follow. 55km to go: Down they fly to another short climb. The view of the mountains at the top of the Col D’Aubisque was truly awesome but there is no time to rest, this is a nasty, exacting test of mettle. This is the Col du Soulor, offering very little respite. Louis Meintjes continues to attempt to bridge the gap to the leading pack, but is getting no help from the riders around him. Bauke Mollema, the veteran, leads Ciccone over the top, lending vital help to his Trek-Segafredo teammate. And the descent can resume.
Ciccone takes the mountain points on Col d’Aubisque
66km to go: Louis Meintjes, who came second on Alpe D’Huez, chases the leading group led by Van Aert, as the climb twists itself round and round the hairpin bends, and slowly. Meintjes is about a minute behind, and on GC virtuel, he has ridden himself up to fourth. Long way to go yet today. Adam Yates, of Team Ineos, has been suffering today but the slow pace of the peloton has allowed him back on. The group who will begin their descent together: Giulio Ciccone, Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) Tiesj Benoot, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Bob Jungels (Ag2r-Citröen), Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Enric Mas, Carlos Verona, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Valentin Madouas, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan), Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost). Ciccone is unchallenged as he goes over the summit first, and is now within three points of Geschke, who is sweating blood back down the hill. Ciccone will fancy picking up some more on the next hill. The other news is that the two motorbikes that caused the accident including Jack Bauer have both been kicked off Le Tour. Giulio Ciccone takes the mountain points. Photograph: Guillaume Horcajuelo/EPA Updated at 14.48 BST 70km to go: Luis Leon Sanchez, a wily old fox, sets off from the front of the peloton, and eats the ground between him and Simon Geschke, who can’t stay with him and seems highly unlikely to be in polka tomorrow. A long long afternoon awaits, and there’s still around 5km of the Col d’Aubisque to go. The yellow jersey group is getting smaller, down to barer bones. Vingegaard is out of his saddle, no pressure as yet. On this famous hill, from this article on the Basque Country. Col d’Aubisque (1,700m) is next up, with pine and birch forests, hairpin bends and spectacular views. We stop to attempt to cycle the pass (I give up part way up!). Nerves of steel are needed for the road cut into near-vertical cliffs around Col du Soulor (1,474m). It’s narrow, with a couple of tunnels, so you’ll need to drive it in the afternoon if your vehicle is over three tonnes (east to west in the morning). The scenery is sublime: the valley floor seems miles below – with nothing but a few concrete blocks between you – while impossible peaks loom above. This beautiful section of road is another favourite of diehard cyclists. This climb has only ever been a summit finish three times, with the winners Bernard Labourdette in 1971, Stephen Roche in 1985 and Michael Rasmussen in 2007. The latter was kicked out of the race while in yellow, only the second time that’s happened. 75km to go: Tom Pidcock, the hero of Alpe D’Huez, is up riding with Geschke, and has two teammates off him, only for Geschke to drop off the back. His polka dot jersey has been endangered by the Cofidis team’s failed efforts to get him up there, and his own lack of form. Giulio Ciccone, the Trek-Segafredo rider at the front, could close to within three points of Geschke if he takes the points at the top. All to play for. Jumbo-Visma have Tiesj Benoot up the front with Van Aert, to act as a launchpad if Vingegaard needs them later on. At the back of the field, Quick-Step are doing their best to save Fabio Jakobsen missing the time limit. He made it by just 15 seconds yesterday. Thomas Pidcock. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images Updated at 14.27 BST 80km to go: The chase is on on that first big climb. Geschke gives chase as that 30-man group soon breaks up, 21 seconds behind, and back in the peloton, the only UAE rider sat with Pogacar is Brandon McNulty, who led his man right to the finish yesterday.
Van Aert wins the intermediate sprint!
84km to go: Some calm? Seems like it for now, with an intermediate sprint and climb soon to come and a sizeable group away in front, though the gap is only around 20 seconds. The makeup, a movable feast was this: Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma), Dani Martinez and Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers), Stan Dewulf (Ag2R-Citroen), Marco Haller (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mattia Cattaneo (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Matteo Jorgensen (Movistar), Matej Mohoric 9(Bahrain Victorious), Alberto Dainese (Team DSM), Alexandr Ribsushenko (Astana-Qazaqstan), Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), Amaury Capiot (Arkea-Samsic), Andreas Kron (Lotto Soudal), Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels-KTM), Nils Politt and Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Florian Senechal (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Rigo Uran (EF), Matis Louvel (Arkea), Tony Gallopin (Trek-Segafredo), Edvald Boasson Hagen and Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) Van Aert idles them home, nobody looking like they fancy challenging him. The green jersey is his, barring accident/Covid. The first climb approaches, and those 30 or so men will never be mentioned in the same breath again.
A crash at the back of the field!
95km to go: Van Aert joins up to make it a 30-man group up away at the front. A dog barks loudly as a bottle is lobbed. And at the back of the field, there’s a prang, A press motorbike took a tight street too keenly and Jack Bauer ended up going into the back of the UAE team car. That was ugly and Bauer was furious as he splatted off the back of that team car. Up ahead, Nils Eekhoff, the Team DSM rider, has a cut elbow. That was entirely the fault of the motorbike. Bauer takes some wipes to his elbow, it looks nasty. Ouch. Nils Eekhoff gets medical assistance after crashing. Photograph: Daniel Cole/AP Updated at 13.57 BST 100km to go: It remains eventful, and there’s another break formed, only for it to splinter. Luke Rowe and Danny Martinez of Team Ineos are involved. There are signals made to work harder from within the group. Simon Geschke hasn’t managed to bridge the gap, it seems, as the gap goes up to just over 20 seconds. 110km to go: Mikkel Berg, who rode a big ride for Pogacar, is sat off the back of the peloton and looks to be suffering for yesterday’s efforts. Simon Geschke, the leader of the mountains points, is chasing down the breakaway, in an attempt to close off any other contenders for the polka pots on the first climb, the Col d’Aubisque. Eventually, the chase closes down the break and the pack is soon enough back together. Van Aert resumes the role of stalking horse up at the front. The pace is high, no rest ahead of the humps to come. Though as soon he rests, other attempt to make their escape. Three weeks of daily Classics is quite something isn’t it @JohnBrewin_? We really should be rolling through unknown villages and meadows now while David Duffield talks about last night’s dinner and Christi Anderson updates us on Tyler Hamilton’s dog’s flea problem. — Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 21, 2022 David Duffield’s already featured today in the preamble. 115km to go: That break is made up of as follows: Stan Dewulf (Ag2R-Citroen), Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM), Stefan Bisseger (EF Education-EasyPost), Florian Vermeersch (Lotto Soudal) and Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco). The gap is teetering around 30 seconds. A woman takes images with her mobile phone as Kazakhstan’s Andrey Zeits passes though the town of Saint-Pe-de-Bigorre. Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP Updated at 13.13 BST 120km to go: Van Aert is back in the pack and it’s left to others to chase the break. Christophe Laporte is on the front, replicating the actions of Van Aert, his Jumbo teammate. Michael Matthews is in this leading quintet, with Aleksandr Anatolyevich Vlasov, in eighth on GC, trying to join up. Van Aert then leads an expeditionary force from the peloton in an attempt to get within the break. 130km to go: No energy being saved for the climbs ahead, as Nils Pollit and Dylan Teuns chased after Van Aert as he makes a descent down the first hill of the day, they have nine seconds to make up on him, the peloton around 20 seconds behind but then the gap begins to go down, as a UAE-led peloton zip after him. Vingegaard and Pogacar are almost joined at the hip in the depths of the peloton, both covered up ahead of the battle to come up the road. Pollit and Teuns are pulled back in. Even Van Aert is struggling to live with the pace, the gap dwindling to five seconds. Stan Dewulf of AG2R catches him and overtakes him. Could this be the formation of a breakaway group? 140km to go: A reminder of what the stage looks like. Lumpy, in short and up the front, Van Aert drops Powless and flies away from the field. The man is relentless.
And away we go!
The peloton flies along to Kilometre Zero and off goes Wout van Aert goes off up ahead, the race is on immediately. Looks like the Jumbo-Visma plan is for him to go up ahead, take the intermediate sprint and then work with Vingegaard later on in the stage. Nelson Powless, a regular in the…
