After struggling a tyre puncture midway within the gravel-packed chaotic Tour de France stage 9, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) was pressured to race on his teammate Jan Tratnik’s bike for the rest of the 199km stage.
The stress placed on by UAE Team Emirates for yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar ensured that the defending champion couldn’t return to his group automotive to vary to his bike.
With 98 kilometres to go, Vingegaard jumped on Tratnik’s bike following a mechanical. With Tratnik ready on the roadside for the group automotive, Vingegaard was pressured to solo again to the peloton, regardless of having a number of teammates within the group.
Once he was again within the discipline, which had cut up, he was assisted by his Visma-Lease A Bike teammates European champion Christophe Laporte and Wout van Aert to make his technique to the entrance of the sector.
Though comparable in measurement, Vingegaard, at 1.75 metres, is 2 centimetres taller than Tratnik, and needed to race on a motorbike not completely suited to his physique – he may very well be seen labouring below Pogacar’s repeated assaults on the stage’s gravel sectors.
UAE Team Emirates rode tactically to make sure there was no let-up in tempo and the present third place GC rider was given no slack to have the ability to return to his personal bike.
The Dane stayed near the entrance and lined the quite a few assaults of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) and Pogačar over the remaining 11 gravel sectors.
More to come back….
