At 1,794m above sea level, the finish of stage 14 of the Tour de France atop Superbagnères was in the clouds, with the fog so thick the luminescent kits of the peloton were barely visible at 100m. Stepping out of the cable car from Bagnères-de-Luchon to the top it felt almost like arriving on an alien planet.
Without phone signal, and away from a television, it could have been a Tour from the 1950s, if it wasn’t for the cable car which had been a simpler option, rather than cycling up the 1,165m of elevation as the Tour peloton had to do.
Through the clouds first emerged the victor, Thymen Arensman, and then the top two on general classification, Tadej Pogačar in yellow and Jonas Vingegaard. They were then followed, in drips and drabs, by the other overall stars of this Tour, almost all of whom could be described as emerging. The result would change many of these rider’s careers, and it is all on the line.
There was Felix Gall, who clawed some time back in his quest to better his best finish of eighth; Florian Lipowitz, who was whisked away to the podium for the white jersey; Oscar Onley, who climbed off his bike and immediately sought comfort on the cold ground as his bike was prepared for the turbo trainer, while the press pack built around him; then Kévin Vaquelin, the great French hope.
Ben Healy was next, the Irishman who has turned into a GC rider at this race, alongside Roglič, who is very much still there, then Tobias Halland Johannessen, who true to his Norwegian roots looked at home in the cold, and finally the great French hope Kévin Vauquelin, who finished just over three minutes down.
Three minutes separates Onley in fourth from Halland Johannessen in eighth, with Healy a further six minutes back. With the battle for yellow potentially already sewn up for Pogačar, the competition for the top 10 is where the interest lies, and those involved are taking different paths.
Halland Johannessen decided to go on the front foot, and was in the break for much of the day, at points looking like he would gain minutes on his rivals. He ended the day being overtaken in the top 10, but remaining in the same place due to Remco Evenepoel’s abandon.
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“The plan was to be in the main group and not to do anything stupid, but you know we are Uno-X so we just have to try,” the Uno-X Mobility rider explained at the finish. “We heard some rumours that UAE and Visma wanted the break to go in so when I first managed to be there, then we went all in.
“There’s a lot of stages to go, and I will try to take some time back. I felt good, and it’s better to die in the front than survive in the back.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
EF Education First-EasyPost’s Healy, who had a memorable spell in yellow earlier this week after previously winning stage six, was also keen on forging ahead in the break, but his new-found GC sense reined things in.
“It was nice, you know,” he said of his day. “I wanted to get in the break today so I spent a lot of energy doing that, and I realised pretty quickly on the Tourmalet that I didn’t have the legs for this stage. Especially with UAE pulling behind. I decided to pull the plug and see what I could do in the final, and I think it was the right decision in the end.
“They went so hard on that climb, and those valleys with Nils [Politt of UAE] pulling behind were really hard on the legs. I just made the decision on the road then.”
Having previously said that the goal might now be stage wins, this appears to be Healy’s top 10 ambitions reborn. “I guess now I’m in that position I’m not just going to lose time on purpose,” he said.
“Days like these are the ones that have always suited me and I think I’ve always sort of known that, but I’ve always approached them from a breakaway standpoint rather than a GC day. I’m just learning how much easier it is in these valleys behind,” he added.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
As for Picnic PostNL’s Onley, the Scot is now in the rarified air of fourth place on GC, something he apparently didn’t expect, but is only just under 90 seconds shy of the podium and the white jersey currently worn by Lipowitz.
“It’s nice [to be fourth], and gain a bit of time on Roglič which helps,” the 22-year-old said. “It’s still a long way to go, and a lot can change next week.
“I wasn’t really coming here with any GC ambitions, and today was probably the biggest test of my long climbing ability.”
There are just seven stages left at this Tour: “I guess [it’s a relief to be out of the Pyrenees],” Onley continued. “One more stage down, one more stage closer to Paris. It’s still a long way to go with some pretty tough climbs in the Alps though.”
His sports director, Matt Winston, added that Onley had “exceeded expectations”.
“Fourth on GC at this point, I think no-one expected this,” he said. “We hoped for good stage results, which we’ve had. There’s only two road stages where we haven’t been inside the top-15, scoring those UCI points. That was the goal coming in, we will try for top-threes and stages, and then scoring points throughout the race. We’ve done that in all but two stages. I’m really proud of the achievements of the team.”
The fog was not thick enough on the climbs to shroud the Scottish saltires and Union Jacks in the crowds, and a new pun that will quickly catch on – Onley Fans.
With the riders back down to earth from the Pyrenees, the top 10 fight will likely pause until Tuesday and Mont Ventoux, but it will remain the most intriguing thing about this race.
