Why did Tadej Pogacar make his Team Ride FULL GAS? Tour de France 2023 Stage 13 

Seriously impressed by Pidcocks improvements as a GC rider as someone who I had always chalked down as a classics specialist and stage hunter in road. He’s taken a huge stride even from last years tour where he was super solid on debut.

"Pacher attacks because draft doesn't exist on Bastille day." LR classic.

Can’t wait for the next 2 stage with only 9 seconds gap! What a tdf

Kwiatkowski looks like hes just heading out for a morning coffee and read the paper not ridden 200 odd km! Far out what a ride! Great vids mate love the summary every morning here in Oz!

Your videos are the best cycling content on RU-vid!

As a cycling fan from Poland, although I have little national sentiments, it still makes me so happy Kwiato proved he still has it. One can hear a lot of lame opinions about him flying around the polish internet how he's just a bidon boy for Ineos, how he could perform better but settled for a good paying job etc. I'm happy for him to win.

Never heard of this site a month ago, now I can’t wait for a new post after every stage. Outstanding commentary!

The fact that Pogi has the knowledge that he can drop Jonas with those accelerations has to be a massive confidence boost. It’s gotta be easier to go all in on an attack knowing it’s gonna drop your main rival.

I love how Simon Yates and Adam Yates both came across the line in almost the same time, and having very close GC times too

Jonas has seemed nervous on previous stages, wasting energy closing down moves he didn't need to, such as to guys more than 4 mins back on GC (yesterday I think being 1 example). I reckon UAE have realised this and that's why Yates was sent up the road, to test Jonas' response and/or shake him or Kuss loose. Even earlier in the day as well as on the previous mountain stage when UAE have led the bunch up climbs, Yates has been on Pogacar's wheel, meaning Jonas would either have an extra bike length to make up to follow Pog. It's weird as you'd think given Jumbo "one two'd" Pog last year, that they'd recognise when not to chase? Seems to be working for UAE this year though. Exciting times...

It is so nice to have Tour de France where it is not sealed in the first week. Its exciting to see GC again. Both Vingegaard and Pogacar makes this fun! I want several rides fighting it out like this, but grand tours never work that way.

This is my first time following the tour. I catch a little while I'm at work but the recaps here have been so enjoyable to catch up on. Cheers!

Yeah, Pogi is gnawing the time gap little by little in these explosive stages that suit him better, but I believe that one single brutal attack will be enough for Jonas to crack Pogi and gain in one shot 30" - 1'00" in the next stages, which are more suitable for Jonas. We have to see if Jonas has the legs though

I think jumbo visma's real plan to gain time over pogacar begins tomorrow. I don't believe they expected to have the yellow jersey at this point in the race. I think they're going to be on attack mode the next days

Kwiato; eternal classe! That's real ciclismo right there. Like LouLou; they were born too early to be mutant super rouleurs and born too late to sweep up the monument coffee rides of the 2000's.

4:46 Personally, I thought that Majka said keep the tempo, don't catch my friend at front, lol 😂

Jonas has to do something extreme on these climbs not just waiting for the sprint at the end, if he just keeps sitting and following, Pog will be in yellow before the weekend ends

Jonas hasn't got an answer to those turbo punches of Pogi, but he's managing the time difference. It could just be strategic, waiting for his own opportunity to put time into Pogi on another climb or time trial or both. On thing's for sure, these two are going to duke it out until the end. Unless, one of them has a bad accident or something to put them way out of touch. UAE seem much more organised to support their lead rider than Jumbo-Visma, so this might be the difference in the end.

I came for the fantastically detailed and spot on analysis of today's stage, and I stuck around for the wry observations and clever quips. Nobody does it better than you, Lanterne Rouge.

I was hoping for much more in this Stage, but it was still exciting.

Been following Kwiatkowski for years. Always comes across as a super nice, down to earth guy happy to serve as a domestique, so it’s great to see him win a stage in such way!

UAE strategy seemed to change along with the events of the race : 1st, they plan to let a break away take a minute or two... but when the escaped group is too big, they decided to let them go and work a little with other teams to keep a steady pace. At the bottom of the Grand Colombier, with more than 3 minutes, it was clear the stage win would be from one of the men in the front. The pace was still sweet at this time... Adam Yates when to watch everyone in the leaders group to evaluate how Jumbo and others were doing... The UAE started to harden the race very seriously to drop every Vingegaard teammates. Only one of them survived... It was clear that Vingegaard was not feeling like attacking. So Adam Yates attacked to watch Jonas' reaction... and few hundred meters before the finish line, Tadej sprinted more than he attacked in order to take the remaining bonus points... But for me, the idea was to take the stage if possible, if not, to keep Jumbo from attacking and if possible, to inspire a bit of fear with a double leader attacks on Vingegaard... and if they was few bonus points to take at the end, why not. But I doubt that before the last 10 km they were full gas...

Kwiatkowski was an absolute weapon. Amazing ride

Kwiato has this full ride on strava, with power. Flat parts of last climb he hit 55pkh

5:16 majka just wanted sabotage his team a little bit to help his National team teamnate win the stage. Polska gurom

Best cycling content on the inter webs! ❤❤ you crush it! I’ve been watching every stage and I still come here to hear your thoughts and overview of the race! Keep crushing it!

So pumped for Kwiato what a ride. Nice gains by Pog but let’s see how tired UAE are after today’s stage.

Would love to see you livestream a stage. These recaps are the best content on RU-vid

Brilliant summary and videos ,very enjoyable and interesting, Thanks keep it up

That pogi sprint was mad. Such power for such a long time. Man I wish my legs could hold me up that long

chapeau michel, class rider, nice to see him come away with the stage win 🙌

AWESOME... Td'F .... Go Pogi... UAE... THAKS for the video, great job.!!!

I found extremely funny when Leopold Konig said for Czech TV that the break group do not have any climbers and Wright should be the favorite for the stage.

Good stuff. Thanks for the recap

Great recap of today’s stage. Very insightful of the communication between the UAE teammates. They have to be careful how they use their riders.

JV have to be happy after this stage. They didn’t have to work and knew the course favored Pog from the start. Now the longer climbs really start, should be a great weekend of racing.

"I just found the best legs I ever had in my life." Chapeau!

WVA & Van Hooydonck rode in the autobus today, I imagine the plan for tomorrow is to try and isolate Pogi on Col de la Ramaz with those 2 then Kuss pacing full gas for the start of Col de Joux Plane to burn up that 1 minute power advantage Pogi has over Jonas. UAE are going to have some tired domestiques tomorrow so that won't hurt TJVs chances.

appreciate how you pronounced the "g" of "Van Gils" correctly

Felt like stage 17 last year. Uae riding the whole day and pogi only taking a few seconds

Alr, I feel like UAE finally improved their tactics (just a little bit) but they again made a mistake of letting a huge break go up the road and then they had to chase all day again just like in the first week. But I feel like the Yates strat is a pretty good idea and I hope they deffo try and use him to tire jumbo out someday by trying to put him in a break since UAE's domestiques clearly suffer in the mountains.

UAE obviously had Stage Win as main objective. I think they realized before 5k to go that they wouldn't get it without Pogacar pulling the last 3k, but that would be too risky with Vingegaard on the wheel that long. I think thats why they launched Yates at 3k left to make Vingeegard close the gap if Kuz didn't have the legs, then probably an earlier attack from Pogacar directly after Vingegaard had to pull in Yates. When Kuz closed the gap I think they switched from Stage Win as objective to go for 3rd place since that would give Pogacar 4 bonus seconds, whilst 2nd only gave 2 seconds more than 3rd. I think UAE executed well, their team just isn't as strong as Jumbo. Exiting weekend ahead!

5:56 why does Kuss close this gap to Yates? Why jump before Pogacar goes?

Great breakdown. Cant wait for the mountain stage tommorow.

Really weird day for UAE. Obviously Pogacar gained 8 seconds and another psychological blow, but his mountain dom's looked weak. I expect Jumbo to take it to them tomorrow, could even see Pogacar and Jonas alone on the penultimate climb.

If Van Gils was caught, the difference in bonus seconds would only be 2 instead of 4. So it was better for Pogacar to finish third then second

great ride from Kwiato! there is 4 s delta in bonus seconds between 3rd and 4th vs only a 2 s delta between 2nd and 3rd (which is kind of quirky) ... so well played by UAE. Jonas will still win this TdF though.

9 second gap! This tour is shaping up beautifully 😁

LOVE Kwiato such a great bike rider ❤️

Really pleased for Michal, comes across a really nice, and hes so often the servant!

I think Majka actually told Felix to slow down to not disturb Kwiato’s win. When Majka was at the front the gap was increasing. Pog also launched at the moment Kwiato passed the finish line. A little national sentiment from the only two really strong cyclists from PL in my opinion, both of them are legends

Kwiatkowski was an absolute weapon. Amazing ride. Your videos are the best cycling content on RU-vid!.

Seems like Jonas is worried about Pog countering him if he attacks. Tomorrow should be a good stage. Pog will crack him, huge gaps incoming.

I just checked the Grand Columbier segment on Strava. Since yesterday, 8 of the top 10 times were set in this year's stage and the top three (Pog, Pidcock, Gaudu) took over a minute from the previous best (Porte, Uran 2020). No doubt it was a fast stage to the end. Emu Buchmann as a claimed 60 kilogram rider tracked 348W average over his 44 minutes of effort, Pog was another 2 minutes faster.

Tadej just chewing away at the time gap. Wonder if he'll be in yellow after Sunday...

Why did Kuss jumped to Yates?

If Pogi can stay on Jonas’ wheel these next few stages, I think he’s gonna win it.

UAE is pretty good at chasing back breakaways - but they are substandard in controlling which breaks get away - and who might be in them. Will this discrepancy cost them enough energy to lose the TDF ??

you are the man, exciting update.

It’s clear that Jumbo aren’t the same without Roglic to help attack. That being said I’m curious to see if Jonas isn’t just managing his time loses for now and gearing up to put in a big attack in the next few days.

Props to Kwiat! Awesome ride uphill. But it's like watching Movistar strategy what UAE did here. I wonder why they waited so long before launching Pog, who btw cost me $50 today. Gonna be exciting with the longer climbs tomorrow.

TP just is a more explosive sprinter, and when he knew he was close enough to hold his speed, he went. No attack like we see during the earlier parts of stages, just smart enough to know his strengths vs. JV and when to use them..

When K is let off the leash as Super domestic for G and bernal he can do great things. Glad to see him take a win

It was even better for Poga to finish 3rd.

Hope Pogi and UAE have a day riding on TJV’s wheels tomorrow. They must be knackered or maybe they will all recover well. As long as Pogi recovers well anyway, he can ride on anyone’s wheels.

Where was the Jumbo-Visma train while the UAE dictating the terms?

I think Jumbo / Vingegaard did really well here. They waiting for stages in the next days with more than 1 difficult climb. UAE as at teams spent a lot of energy trying to catch the breakaway because Pogi wanted the stage win, but they failed. Pogi gained 4 sec on Vingegaard (minus bonus) that was it. Great videos man, watching them daily - greetings from Denmark.

What an incredible performance from Kwiato.

What a Tour it is this year!!!

I think tomorrow Uae needs to Attack from far with Adam Yates..so that they don t have to work (and today It was pretty clear Uae riders are struggling in climbing) and they force Jumbo to hard work and Vingegaard should be isolated before the last km of the last mountain to climb

I can’t work out what are the right strategies here. Going full on the front is done yet loads of RU-vidrs say it’s dumb or knucklehead, especially when you’re not in yellow. Have jumbo got special powers meaning they rarely go in front?

Painful stage, managed to make a climb that could change anything end up being pretty boring. Enjoyed seeing Kwiato get the dub 💪

Soler was definitely in it, he had the 1000 yard stare for a while there.

Those big accelerations hurt Jonas, he crosses the line drooling and cross eyed every time, credit for hanging on to that slim lead! Epic race so far

You seem to misunderstand the difference between a time gap and a distance gap. Terrain doesn't affect the time gap it's the time it takes the following riders to reach the same point as the lead rider. The time gap doesn't increase because the lead rider is on a flatter section its because the chase isn't matching the pace of the lead rider when he was at the same point.

GC Kuss just warming up

Although Pog didn't win he probably got same bonus second advantage over JV of 4 secs same as he 1st and JV 2nd.

wow, if stage 14 motorbike 8 second flip of Tadej and Vingagaard proves to be the difference… that is ridiculous

My question is, "Did Pogacar come up with the tactic of exploding in front of Vingegard and gaining an extra 4 seconds for third, or was it his manager?" At any rate, it probably made for a sleepless night for Vingegard. Looking forward to today's race.

Loving this tour. Loving the videos

Pogi not just toying with Jonas, he's toying with all of us. (Rhyme intended)

I think they were going for the stage then realised it was a no go so went for bonus seconds. Worked out nicely

best channel out there period! Regarding tour the show starts tomorrow. I hope to see attacks and dancing in the sadle. Pogi reminds me of great Pantani, but we will see tomorrow and day after. I hope no-one falls.

WOOOT WOOOT Kwiato !!!!! and GO TADEJ GO

I feel Pog was not too impressed with his climbing domestiques on the Colombier. Who really should have been able to close the gap to Kwiato much more than they actually did. Maybe that is the reason he was not smiling (as he normally does) at the post race interview. His final acceleration seemed to put in more watts than the rest of his team combined.

When people are saying that Jonas is good on long climbs, it's kind of a false claim. He is good on hard mountain stages, meaning plenty of them and sure 10km+ climbs well, but where Jonas really shines or at least has so far in his career is in high altitudes, meaning once we get climbs over 2000m altitudes, Jonas usually performs very well. Today had a 17km yes, but only 1500m altitude. Nevertheless the battle for yellow is still on and exciting.

The battle for 3rd is also really nice to see while these two fastbois battle for first

still got to wonder if UAE burnt a lot of matches today, this weekend is brutal..The way the JV riders were both staying in the wheels and dropping out early suggests they are prepping for a major assault from UAE.. hard to ride defensively when Pog can seemingly attack at will and drop Jonas easily... Barring a crash, I expect Pog to be in yellow tomorrow or Sunday

I love these videos

Seems pretty obvious that UAE wasn’t trying to catch or attack what was in front of them at all. They were attacking that Yellow Jersey behind them and the only mistake was not doing it a kilometer sooner.

Strange plan from UAE. I dont think it really worked and for sure they will be a little frustrated. Unfortunate that Pogacar didnt win the stage. However they did show strength and confidence. Maybe a warning for Jumbo?

UAE sent Yates in tne closing km. Wonder if Jumbo uses a similar tactic and sends Kuss with the hopes Pogi chases?

A shed load of work for a few seconds gained. Could bite UAE in the arse in a few days time... sep kuss on point today...

Good stuff!

Don’t think UAE was focusing that much on Kwiatkowski but rather trying to wear Vingegaard out and then attack him because he only had Kuss by his side. Then all would be set up for an explosive attack by Pogacar, which it seemed he already planned to do in the last km because that bit was nice and steep again and not too long.

Obviously UAE was thinking to launch Pogo for the win, but they should have stopped that strategy immediately as the break enough up the hill

Thanks!

The Jumbo guys took it easy today. Let's see what happens over the weekend.

why do we always say its the team leader who decides the outcomes of the stage, isn't it really the DS calling the shots???

Now that I think about it, yeah Pogacar didn't really needed his team to go full gas. I believe he could've achieved same result if his team didn't go full gas because he only attacked last Km or so.