I don't know who needs this rest day more: me or the guys doing the riding. THAT. WAS. THE. BEST. FIRST. WEEK. OF. THE. TOUR. IN DECADES.
Full stop.
Seriously - I've been watching the tour since Wide World of Sports and this is the most action-packed first week I've ever seen. Kudos to the ASO for a BEGINNING as epic as THIS ending.
Too Many Highlights to Count
Where to start? Philipsen nipping Girmay on stage one. MVDP winning Stage 2 for Pouliador, and taking yellow while depriving Pog of his 100th win. Pog DOMINATING stage 3 and 4 with Vingo AND MVDP close behind. Remco absolutely shattering everybody in the ITT. And then dark horse Ben Healy popped off on Stage 6. Foreshadowing? Maybe.
But then, out of nowhere...an American superhero emerges: Quinn Simmons. Dude, come on! How fun is it to watch this guy?? He's not won a stage (yet) but how got dam awesome is it to see the Stars and Stripes mixing it up in breakaways in the dang TOUR!? After attacking a chase group with some of the best in the world (ahem, Mattheiu) he finished second behind Healey on Stage 6 and for a hot second we all thought he'd stay away on the toughest stage of the week. The only thing that made his getting caught OK was watching the hard work of another American, Matteo Jorgensen, working HARD for Jonas in the chasing peloton. We're witnessing the birth of a new age for American PROs in cycling with Simmons, Jorgensen, Kuss, Powless, and Barta. And I'm here for it.
The Battle for Yellow
Yes, the Maillot Jaune changes hands a lot the first week. It usually dances around amongst the sprinters, but this year's very different because Pogacar defies convention. I couldn't believe my eyes when he went for it (again) on Stage 7, but didn't quite close the gap to Van Der Poel. I'm a fan of Pog, but seeing MVDP hang onto it for JUST ONE MORE STAGE was definitely a highlight of the week.
But the war raged on. Every fan in the US got up early on Monday to watch as much of the stage as possible, because we knew there would be fireworks. I turned the TV on around 6am, and much to my surprise Quinn was in the break.AND HE ATTACKED THE BREAK. Beast.
I admit I was so hyper-focused on him that I didn't pay attention to my dark horse pick right on his wheel: Ben Healey. Yeah, everybody got DROPPED by Yates, but Ben went on to snag third in the stage along with the yellow jersey. And ICYMI, he's had an incredible year so far:
- 3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 4th Strade Bianche
- 5th La Flèche Wallonne
- 10th Amstel Gold Race
He can't beat Pog, but he might just end up on the podium if Remco cracks. It'll be something to watch, for sure.
Until next week, here are some of my favorite memes and quotes from the first 10 days.
Cyclists are Badasses. Tyler with a broken collarbone back in the day, Almeida with a broken hip today.
Can we stop with the helmets, already?
Pog takes ALL DA JERZEEEZ
