Tower of Babel

Yellow Jersey: the way of The Pog
The fight for the Yellow Jersey began with a stunning blow, dealt out by a climber who won at the seaside, a general classification competitor who now takes his chance in breakaways, a champion in Poulidor’s style who found himself at the top of the general classification on the evening of the first day on his last Tour! Seven years after his last victory, in Rimini Romain Bardet won a fifth career stage victory on the Tour, allowing him at last to taste what life is like in yellow… but only for one day. Tadej Pogacar took it from him in Bologna on completion of the second stage, but the following day in Turin, Richard Carapaz was wily enough in placing himself in the finale to capture the Yellow Jersey thanks to addition of the finishing places so far. For the Ecuadorian, who had already ridden in pink on the Giro and in red on the Vuelta, this honour was also short lived but he will always have the memory of climbing the Galibier decked out in this unique jersey.  
However, it was on this climb that Tadej Pogacar definitively took control, starting a three-way battle for the overall podium in the general classification from the finish in Valloire onwards. In this trio, Remco Evenepoel assumed the status of closest pursuer until the slopes of the Pyrenees rose up in front of the pack, for this was where Jonas Vingegaard managed to regain second place, which he held onto until the end of the race. Ultimately, “The Pog” only left two days in yellow to the competition and by putting on the 40th yellow jersey of his career on the podium in Nice, he overtook Antonin Magne in the rankings of wearers of the race leader’s tunic. Aside from Evenepoel, the final top 10 welcomed four new members: Joao Almeida (4th), who finished his first tour in an honourable position in addition to the pride of participating in the triumph of his team leader at UAE Emirates; Matteo Jorgenson (8th), who will perhaps see his overall result as a consolation for having been gobbled up by Pogacar 1.8 km from the finishing line at Isola 2000; Derek Gee, whose perseverance and consistency came up trumps to keep a 9th placed finish that was far from certain; and Santiago Buitrago, a debutant on the Tour like the Canadian in front of him, who saved face for Colombia by climbing into 10th place on the last day, at the expense of Giulio Ciccone (11th).

Green Jersey: Bini, Bini, Bini
He struck three stunning blows, but it was with the first victorious sprint in Turin that Biniam Girmay made Tour de France history, as it was the first by a black African rider. On that day, the Eritrean rider also grasped that success in front of the best sprinters and on the world’s biggest stage was within his reach. Several days later in Saint-Vulbas, Mark Cavendish seized his moment of glory, or rather his record-breaking 35th, while Bini put on the green jersey, battling for it with Mads Pedersen who was still in the mix at that point of the race. With another win in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, this time Girmay beat Jasper Philipsen, who improved his position in the struggle for the green jersey by renewing acquaintance with success in Saint-Amand-Montrond, kicking off for real the duel between the Belgian and the Eritrean. It became more intense at the finish in Nîmes, where a fall by the green jersey wearer deprived him of points, while last year’s winner of the sprinters’ classification also won a third stage of the year, reducing the gap to just over thirty points. With no more sprint finishes on the programme, all that remained for the newcomer to the club of sprint winners was to control his rival on the intermediate sprints and grit his teeth to try and forget the aches caused by his crash. In the end, it was mission accomplished and with Girmay an African country won a Tour de France classification for the first time.

Polka dot jersey: Carapaz peaks at the right time
With his lead in both the points classification and the best climber’s rankings for several days, Jonas Abrahamsen was one of the most high-profile riders of the first week. Indeed, with the aim of keeping the polka dot jersey on his shoulders for as long as possible, he took every opportunity to pick up points by joining the breakaways. As a result, the Norwegian held on to top spot in the classification until the finish at Le Lioran, where only Pogacar moved ahead of him, allowing him to continue along France’s roads in the polka dots by proxy. The arrival of the Pyrenees on the programme put paid to this adventure, as the only rider to be anywhere close to Pogacar was Vingegaard. This was still the case at Superdévoluy, although the stage victory there seemed to give ideas to Richard Carapaz. With a deficit of 40 points but also a steely resolve, the Ecuadorian was able to set off on a daring conquest as the final weekend approached. On the stage finishing at Isola 2000, the jackpot available on the Cime de la Bonette played a major part in helping him to succeed. The rider who lost this same jersey to Pogacar at the Planche des Belles Filles on the Tour in 2020, but who won its equivalent on the Vuelta in 2022, once again gave Ecuador a source of pride. It was not the sole reward for the EF Education Easypost rider, who was named the most combative rider on the Tour, a prize for which he was in competition with Abrahamsen and Victor Campenaerts.

White jersey: Remco, quite naturally
He was obviously the most observed debutant given that he was a legitimate candidate for a place on the Tour’s podium. Remco Evenepoel did not take much time to move to the top of the best young rider classification. However, at the end of the first stage, it was a fine and fair reward for Frank Van den Broek, who devoted his first day on the Tour to actively contributing to the success of his team leader with dsm-Firmenich PortNL, Romain Bardet. Yet, from the finish in Bologna, it was indeed the Belgian favourite in the category who took control. There appeared to be serious rivals for him in the category, such as Juan Ayuso or Tom Pidcock, until both were forced to drop out due to catching Covid. In the end, his competitors were far behind the white jersey, because Carlos Rodriguez was unable to prove that he was a genuine threat, while Matteo Jorgenson was tied up with assisting Vingegaard, his team leader. The Spaniard, who finished his first Tour in 6th place in the general classification last year, only dropped down one position in comparison, but finished the race 25 minutes behind Pogacar and almost 16 minutes behind Evenepoel.

Team classification: domination by UAE Emirates
The finish in Valloire on completion of the stage that climbed the Galibier changed the situation at every level and therefore logically in the team classification, which was dominated from then on by UAE Emirates, in the wake of Tadej Pogacar. On the decisive stages and after the exit from the race of Ayuso, it was most often Adam Yates and Joao Almeida who acted as their leader’s lieutenants to make the difference in this hierarchy. The lead of UAE Emirates even nearly reached one hour at one point, with the prospect of breaking the record held by Hinault’s and LeMond’s La Vie Claire team – achieved in 1986 with an advantage of 1 hour 51 minutes over Peugeot-Shell – a distinct possibility. However, the breakaways in the third week, which the teammates of Tadej Pogacar did not join, evened out the classification. Pogacar’s gang finished the race 31’51’’ ahead of Visma-Lease a Bike and 1 hour 33 minutes in front of Soudal-Quick Step.