Thursday 17: 13:10โ13:25 โ 17:30โ18:00
The first true mountain passes today.
The start is not as flat as often: they will use the hills of Gers instead of going along the valleys as the Tour de France always does. But just a bit: they will ride exclusively on the highway ๐, so, long flat sections will still be present and the climbs will be smoother than on secondary roads; especially smooth as those hills are like factory roofs, and when going from East to West you always get the easy side.
So today we'll know if Vingegaard has a chance this tour, if he can follow Pog up Hautacam he'll stand a chance in the third week.
And I guess today and tomorrow we will also find out to what extent Pogacar's injuries affect his performance. Considering it's just road rash/bruising and no serious damage, he shouldn't be vulnerable for too long so the other riders really need to take advantage of any weakness while they can.