Stage Fifteen

 I’ve become accustomed to not hearing the French commentary as I’ve watched The Tour in bars across France, so it was no big deal that  it was drowned out by heated non-stop verbal byplay in the bar I ended up at today, though it was a bit distracting when the words escalated into shoving from time to time by the cluster of scrawny older guys who must have been drinking all afternoon. I was in a working man’s bar on the outskirts of Montpellier full of guys who weren’t cycling fans. Jacques Audiard would have loved the place and would have been scribbling away trying to capture all the dialogue for his next script.

I had to ask to have The Tour put on the television.  Usually it attracts some interest once it’s put on, but here I was the only one who paid it any attention despite the prominence of that French dynamic duo Alaphilippe and Pinot who have lit up The Race day after day. It was purely the Pinot show today, though the camera still gave Alaphilippe plenty of exposure as he struggled for the first time, though still retaining the Yellow Jersey over Thomas by more than a minute.

But Pinot is coming on fast. He didn’t win the stage, as he did the day before, as Simon Yates was too far up the final climb for him to overtake, but he distanced himself from everyone else who had been in the cluster of contenders chasing the breakaway and claimed the bonus seconds for finishing second. He made his attack six kilometers from the summit. Only Bernal, Alaphilippe and Kruigswijke were able to match his acceleration. Alaphilippe fell off after a kilometer and was eventually passed by Thomas, who gained thirty seconds on him. Kruigswijke was the next to be shed and finally Bernal four kilometers from the finish. Pinot was rampaging and is certainly not done yet. At the finish he said, “When you have good legs, you have to enjoy them.”

He moved up to fourth, less than two minutes behind Alaphilippe, who he gained over a minute on today. With three stages to come in the Alps, that could disappear on any one of them. He’s just three seconds behind Kruigswijke and the podium. He’s almost an equal distance from the two Ineos contenders, fifteen seconds behind the fading Thomas and twelve seconds ahead of the not-as-strong-as-everyone-expected Bernal.  

Kruigswijke has two strong teammates and increasing confidence. He’s in the ascendancy and could round out the podium with Pinot and Bernal. Alaphilippe could soon be facing reality after a glimpse of it today and not even finish in the Top Ten. There is lots of racing to come and anything could still happen.

It was thirty-five miles from Montpellier to Nimes, where the peloton would be enjoying its second Rest Day and the proceedings would continue on Tuesday.  Ralph gave me the inducement of a spare bed at his hotel in Nimes to continue riding until after nine once again. I hadn't ridden so late after leaving The Tour route a couple nights ago, so wasn’t adverse to doing it again, though it had been a hot day and I was drained.  At least the terrain was flat.  

There was some very tempting camping in forests along the way, but I pushed on, partially thinking there would be considerably less traffic to contend with entering the metropolis of Nimes on a Sunday evening than Monday morning. But there was near bumper-to-bumper traffic even after nine of people returning from the Mediterranean or the countryside. And mixed in were various team cars, some with bikes on their roofs, the speed demons leading the massive pack of The Tour entourage making the transfer from the day’s stage finish in Foix 200 miles away.

Ralph awaited me at an outdoor cafe a block from his hotel. He was just finishing off his dinner. He’d had his first ride since his accident and was feeling ready to head to the Alps. He’d missed Pinot’s dramatics as none of the bars he ducked into outside of Nimes on his afternoon ride had The Tour on their televisions and he was reluctant to ask to have it put on, shocked that not every television in the country was tuned to The Race 

with Pinot and Alaphilippe bringing long-lost glory to la France. Getting the minute-by-minute updates of the stage on his phone was adequately exciting.  He continues to be infected by the thrill of The Race and changed his train reservation back to London so he could be there for the finish on fhe Champs-Élysées.  

I’ll be watching it in Montpellier after attending a Slow-Travel festival in Le Caylar while the peloton is immersed in the Alps.  Among those attending the festival will be Léo Woodland, author of over a dozen books on racing who’ve I’ve come to know.  It will be a thrill to watching the Alp stages with this great authority.