Tour de France 2021 - ‘F*** the criticism’ - Bradley Wiggins defends Ineos Grenadiers after Stage 11

ByMarcus Foley

Updated 08/07/2021 at 10:08 GMT

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) claimed a victorious ride from the breakaway over a gruelling double ascent of Mont Ventoux to seal Stage 11 victory at the Tour de France. However, having tried and failed to apply pressure to race leader Tadej Pogačar, the tactics of the Ineos Grenadiers were called into question. In the latest episode of his podcast, Bradley Wiggins has defended Ineos.

Wout van Aert soloed to Stage 11 glory in Malaucène after the first double ascent of Mont Ventoux in Tour de France history.

Overall leader Pogačar came in 1’38” behind the stage winner and leads Rigoberto Urán by 5’38” in the GC. Ineos tried and failed to apply pressure to the 2020 winner of the Tour but failed.

The team came in for criticism for, as presenter Graham Willgoss put it, “basically giving Pogacar a free ride”. However, Wiggins leapt to the defence of the British-based team.

Cycling

Van Aert 'happy to be back training outside' just four weeks after horror crash

23/04/2024 at 18:59

What else are they supposed to do?

“It would be nice if another team took it up. Good on them they are having a go at least; no other teams are trying.

“I saw Jonathan Vaughters (manager at EF Education–Nippo) this morning and I said, ‘Why don’t you guys have a go?’ and he replied, ‘Well, we will see how it goes’.

LISTEN TO THE BRADLEY WIGGINS SHOW PODCAST

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google podcasts

"Just have a go!

So at least Ineos are having a go and they put a strategy together. Yeah, it doesn't always work out and they might face criticism, but f*** the criticism. At least they are having a go and taking it on, and they are not lying down. And they will do that until Paris.

“Good on Dave Brailsford and Ineos.”

Wout van Aert claims historic Mont Ventoux victory on Stage 11

Pogačar was, at one stage, distanced by potential general classification rival Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), with the UAE Emirates rider trailing Vingegaard by 20 seconds going over the final summit and was caught by fellow GC hopefuls Rigoberto Uran (EF Education - Nippo) and Richard Carapaz on the descent.

However, the trio reeled in the Dane in the closing stages and the defending champions led the quartet over the line to claim a fourth place finish behind stage winner Van Aert and Trek-Segafredo duo Kenny Elissonde and Bauke Mollema.

Speaking on The Breakaway, Dan Lloyd feels Pogačar's display on the day may given the rest of the teams hope for the remainder of the race.

“Realistically, Tadej Pocagar did show a sign of weakness today,” said Orla Chennaoui.

“But he still rode back and managed to conserve his lead while disposing of Ben O’Connor along the way.”

To which Lloyd added: “He looked so comfortable all the way up the climb and even when Vingegaard attacked, he just sat in the saddle and took him a few peddle rows to get out of the saddle and chase him down.

Then we started to see a little bit of a grimace and then he was distanced.

“So yeah, it’s just a small sign of weakness but it seems like such a strange thing to say isn’t it? Effectively, Pogacar’s lead has gone from 02’01” to 5’18” and we’re here thinking we’ve got a race on.

“But the other teams will be thinking, well there is one rider who has proven better on a climb today than Tadej Pogacar, which we haven’t seen so far and Jumbo-Visma in particular.”

'We're thinking we've got a race on' - Dan Lloyd on Pogacar climb struggles

Next up, Deceuninck-QuickStep’s Cavendish will have a chance to draw level with Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 Tour stage wins on Thursday with the 159.5km Stage 12 to Nîmes, where he took his fourth Tour win back in 2008.

Stage 11 recap

How best to bounce back from coming second to Mark Cavendish in a bunch sprint? By conquering the legendary Giant of Provence for what you describe as “the best victory” of your already illustrious career.

Beaten by Cavendish on the flat on Tuesday, Van Aert made amends with a victorious ride from the breakaway over a gruelling double ascent of Mont Ventoux – as the green jersey battled behind to beat the time cut by seven minutes.

On a day which started badly for the Belgian champion’s Jumbo-Visma team – with the early withdrawal of German veteran Tony Martin following yet another crash – Van Aert’s Danish teammate Jonas Vingegaard showed his class behind with a stinging attack from the yellow jersey group that put race leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) in the red on the second ascent of the mythical climb ahead of the nail-biting descent to the finish.

---

HOW TO WATCH THE TOUR DE FRANCE

You can watch the Tour de France live and ad-free on the Eurosport app and Eurosport.co.uk. Download the Eurosport app for iOS and Android now. You can also watch the most comprehensive live & ad-free racing on GCN+. Go deeper and get interactive with live polls & quizzes, plus rider profiles, race updates, results & more – plus stream exclusive cycling documentaries.

Liège - Bastogne - Liège Men

'I was quite emotional' – Pogacar dedicates win to fiancée's late mother

21/04/2024 at 17:42

Liège - Bastogne - Liège Men

'It was quite emotional' – Pogacar dedicates win to girlfriend's late mother

00:02:31

|

21/04/2024 at 15:16

Liège - Bastogne - Liège Men

'A titan of our times' – Pogacar storms to solo victory

00:01:40

|

21/04/2024 at 14:47