JOURNAL

How a breathless stage 7 showcased the Tour’s more chaotic new style

Image: Chris Auld.

On the longest day of the year the Earth’s axis tilts towards the sun to its highest point, providing the most daylight of any time. According to the Latin translation of summer solstice, the sun literally ‘stands still’.The axis of the Tour de France definitely felt like it was shifting on the longest day of the 2021 race, also the longest for 21 years, on stage 7, as the peloton travelled 249.1km from Vierzon to La Creusot, although standing still was the last thing anyone seemed to have on their minds. With four climbs in the final half of the route, the stage was always predicted to be a day for the breakaway, but few would have bet on the yellow jersey being among the A-list riders who got the jump on the peloton. The last decade of the Tour has been defined by Sky and then Ineos’s dominance, but their stranglehold on the yellow jersey since 2012 has also defined the way the Tour is raced. Sky dictated how stages unfolded and not just when their mountain train chugged uphill. Jumbo-Visma replicated the same tactic last year. This year, UAE Emirates had the strongest rider in Tadej Pogacar, but not the strongest team. The consequence? Control turned to chaos.