A crazy race and a duel worthy of the greatest in history tainted by… a motorcycle. During the ascent of the Col de Jouplane, Tadej Pogacar had to block his effort, hampered by a two-wheeler, too close to the runners.
During a crucial moment of this 14th stage, and while the two favorites of this Tour de France finish with the last difficulty of the day, a motorcycle blocked the passage of the riders. Stowed in the wheel of the yellow jersey, Tadej Pogacar then tries to surprise the latter and places an acceleration in the last ascent of this Saturday. An attack stopped by a motorcycle, which remained too close to the riders.
A scene that ulcerated Laurent Jalabert. “It’s unacceptable” split the former runner who became a commentator for France Télévisions. After the race, Bernard Papon, photographer for L’Equipe, present on the bike, explains the situation.
“There was so much public that the pool was set up, reveals the photographer, who was now the only one authorized to follow these two runners, the public being too dense. When I see that (Tadej) Pogacar starts, I tell my driver, who replies that he simply cannot pick up. And when it hits us, we find ourselves in a delicate situation. The public is so dense that there is a choice to be made in the moment: break the effort of the runner or line up in the public and injure people.
However, Bernard Papon, an experienced photographer, knows how to recognize his mistake. “I’m not going to defend the indefensible: we shouldn’t end up in this kind of situation. I should have asked my pilot to take the field faster and earlier. Next time I accelerate and I don’t take the picture, too bad. Everything is planned from the point of view of the regulations for this situation. We made a mistake and I am deeply sorry for Tadej Pogacar and for the show.
The two other protagonists of the day prefer to remember a fact of the race. “Motorcycles could not get free. It’s like that. We will try again another time” summarizes, lucid, Tadej Pogagcar. “There were a lot of people on the climb. The motorcycles were very close to us. It would have been better if they were less so. But imagine what would have happened if the incident had not taken place, no, it’s hard to say anything, ”explains Jonas Vingegaard for his part.
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