Tour de France 2021 - ‘Back to drawing board’ – Bradley Wiggins says Ineos Grenadiers have lost sense of invincibility
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Updated 27/06/2021 at 21:32 GMT
Ineos need to re-think their racing strategy, according to Sir Bradley Wiggins. The 2012 Tour de France winner made the statement on the latest episode of The Breakaway after witnessing the British team struggle after Mathieu van der Poel put in a blistering ride to seal the yellow jersey with a Stage 2 win.
‘They’ve got some thinking to do now’ – Wiggins after Ineos Tour troubles
Sir Bradley Wiggins thinks Ineos need to re-think their tactics after another poor showing at the Tour de France.
The 2012 Tour de France winner was speaking on the latest episode of The Breakaway after the British team struggled to live with a blistering ride from Alpecin–Fenix’s Mathieu van der Poel, who rode into yellow on Stage 2 of the race.
“We saw Ineos riding on the front with 2km to go today but after that go from [Michal] Kwiatkowski they really did fall to pieces,” said Wiggins. “Richie Porte was looking like he was struggling to hold the wheel.”
It almost feels like Ineos have lost that sense of invincibility.
Wiggins then turned his attentions to the fortunes of Geraint Thomas, who came home some 23 seconds shy of stage winner Van der Poel – a result that leaves Thomas 41 seconds in arrears in the General Classification.
"Geraint [Thomas] went into that climb on fourth wheel and somehow ended up slowly drifting away," added Wiggins. "Whether there was a slip of gears, we don’t know. So [Richard] Carapaz was the only [Ineos] rider in that front group."
They’ve got some thinking to do now, going back to the drawing board two days in. It’s a very competitive GC race already in the first weekend.
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Highlights: Van der Poel soars to emotional Stage 2 win to claim yellow
'We’ve been blessed these last two days'
A blistering ride over the double-ascent at Mur-de-Bretagne saw Van der Poel take the yellow jersey in mesmerising style on Sunday, and Wiggins added that the ride had left him in awe of the Dutchman.
What a rider, we sat here today more in awe of him than Julian Alaphilippe. We’ve been blessed these last two days with two dominant displays by these two riders. There could only be one winner today.
“It’s been an amazing first weekend of the Tour de France. He is riding in honour of his grandfather who is a huge cultural figure in France. He’s just warmed the hearts of everyone in the world of cycling.”
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'We sat here today in awe' - Wiggins after Van der Poel's emotional Stage 2 win
'Pogacar and Roglic don't seem too concerned with anyone else'
The Slovenian pair of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) led the chase of Van der Poel, coming in some six seconds down, and are well poised in the GC battle.
2020 winner Pogacar is in third, some 13 seconds in arrears of Van der Poel – with Roglic in fourth, one second further back.
“For the first two days these two [Pogacar and Roglic] have been pretty closely matched and they’ve marked each other out of it,” said Wiggins.
They’ve not given each other an inch, which shows you that they both see themselves as the first and second on the podium this year at the Tour. They don’t seem too concerned with anyone else.
After wins for Alaphilippe and Van der Poel, the focus should shift to the sprinters who will battle it out in Stages 3 and 4 ahead of Wednesday’s time trial, where Van der Poel is expected to lose the yellow jersey.
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Wiggins: Ineos lose sense of invincibility as Pogacar and Roglic rivalry grows
STAGE 2 RECAP – written by Felix Lowe
When Mathieu van der Poel attacked on the first of two deciding ascents of the Cote de Menehiez at Mur-de-Bretagne it looked like he had gone too early. But the Dutchman snared the bonus seconds over the summit which gave him a chance of taking the yellow jersey the second time round – and the 26-year-old Tour debutant delivered in style.
Countering an attack from Nairo Quintana inside the final kilometre, Alpecin-Fenix’s Van der Poel roared clear of his rivals to win Stage 2 with a gap of six seconds over a deluxe chasing trio of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe).
Highlights: Van der Poel soars to emotional Stage 2 win to claim yellow
The French race leader Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) led a chasing group home a further two seconds back to take fifth place one day after his superb win in the opening stage at Landerneau. By missing out on the bonus seconds over both passages of the summit, the world champion conceded his yellow jersey to his Dutch rival. Alaphilippe will now start Monday’s third stage not in his rainbow bands but in the green jersey after he consolidated his lead in the points classification amid all the activity.
It was an emotional win for Van der Poel on the second day of his Tour de France career, the 26-year-old having stuttered to 20th place on Saturday’s opening stage while his Alpecin-Fenix team wore a special purple and amber kit paying homage to his late grandfather, the former cyclist Raymond Poulidor.
And on crossing the finish line after securing his first Tour stage win, Van der Poel pointed to the sky as he remembered the man called “PouPou” – who famously never wore the yellow jersey during his long and otherwise illustrious career.
“I have no words. I really don’t know what to say,” a stunned Van der Poel said after the stage. “I gambled a little bit. I went on the first climb because I knew I needed the bonus seconds if I wanted the jersey. It was my last chance to get it.”
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