(Nogaro) Grand start from Bilbao obliges, the Tour de France attacks the Pyrenees from the fifth stage on Wednesday between Pau and Laruns where Tadej Pogacar has only good memories.
In a particularly mountainous 2023 edition, the organizers did their best not to add too much to the bill from the first massif crossed so as not to destroy the sporting interest of the race because of the already too large gaps in the general classification.
But all the same: with the passes of Soudet (15.2 km at 7.2%, classified as hors-category) and Marie-Blanque (7.7 km at 8.6%, 1st category) on the program, there already has enough to scrap, even if the last summit is placed 18 kilometers from the finish in Laruns.
And Thursday, we will have to do it again, with the first of the four finishes at the top of this Tour, in Cauterets-Cambasque, after crossing the Aspin and the Tourmalet along the way.
162.7 km long, the Laruns stage “is almost a copy of what we did in 2020 when we had Pogacar’s first victory. The only difference is that you climb the Soudet by the side of the Basque Country coast. But it’s still just as hard, ”explains Thierry Gouvenou, the course architect, to AFP.
Once you’ve climbed the Soudet, “it’s mainly going to be played out in the difficult part of Marie-Blanque. It’s really only those who play the general who will be able to get out of this pass because it is really very steep, especially the last three kilometers which offer slopes of more than 10/11%”, adds the director. technique of the Tour.
For Tadej Pogacar, the stage will awaken enchanted memories, he who won the first of his nine stage victories on the Grande Boucle in 2020 at Laruns. The Slovenian had settled a small group in the sprint to win, incredulous and hands down on the helmet, in front of his compatriot Primoz Roglic from whom he would then steal the yellow jersey on the eve of the arrival in Paris to win his first Tour.
“This stage remains one of the most beautiful moments of my career”, recalls “Pogi”, who also particularly adores Pau, a stage city of the Tour for the 74th time already.
Because not only did he win in 2020 between the capital of Béarn and Laurens but also the following year during the stage between Pau and Luz-Ardiden.
One wonders if it is really a coincidence that the UAE runner’s second place last year in Paris, after two consecutive successes, coincides with the rare absence of Pau on the 2022 course.
Departure from Pau at 1.05 p.m. (launched at 1.25 p.m.), arrival in Laruns at 5.35 p.m. (time calculated at 39 km/h on average).
