Netflix’s ‘Tour de France Unchained’ editors will likely have to seek drama away from the Ineos Grenadiers bus this July after the race’s first visit to the high mountains appeared to settle any potential questions over team leadership on day four.
The recently released series appeared to portray Tom Pidcock defying team orders last summer as teammate Carlos Rodríguez fought for the podium in the second week of the Tour de France.
This year, the race’s first high-mountain visit has seemingly launched the Spaniard back into the role of undisputed GC leader at the British squad after he rolled across the stage 4 finish line in Valloire in sixth place.
The 23-year-old shed 37 seconds to new leader Tadej Pogačar (plus another 18 bonus seconds). Just over two minutes later, his teammates Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas rolled across the line, while Pidcock finished in 56th place, just under 12 minutes down.
“In the end, we kind of saved the day,” Rodríguez said after the stage. “I felt good in the final climb. I was able to be close to the rest of the GC guys so I’m happy.
“Sixth on the finish line isn’t a bad result. For sure we were aiming for better, but step-by-step and day-by-day, hopefully, we’ll be better.”
Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates squad set an infernal pace on the final climb of the 140km stage, the hors catégorie Col du Galibier, shedding riders left and right as the likes of Tim Wellens, João Almeida, and Juan Ayuso. The resulting group was shorn of Pidcock, who let go 26km from the line, six from the top, and then, 3km later, of Bernal, too.
Rodríguez was Ineos’ sole survivor up front, joined in the lead by Pogačar and two teammates in Juan Ayuso and João Almeida, plus Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič, and Soudal-QuickStep duo Remco Evenepoel and Mikel Landa.
At the top of the Galibier, after Pogačar had bolted clear, speeding away to the stage, yellow and a hefty time gain, Rodríguez stuck it out in the chase alongside Roglič and Ayuso. The pair would collect a spooked Evenepoel on the long descent to the finish before catching Vingegaard 4km from Valloire.
Rodríguez said later that the stage won’t be the hardest he or his GC rivals will encounter at the Tour but added that he wasn’t surprised that UAE Team Emirates decided to go all-out, even at this early stage.
“In the end, it was the first mountain day,” he said. “Today and the [other day] are kind of ‘easier’ days.
“It’s never easy here in the Tour, but the profile is not that hard, so for sure, they were going to full and try the legs.”
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