Tour, final climb. Arensman wins the stage, Wingegaard takes second. But Pogacar is king.

Between two bickering riders, the third rejoices. And wins. In the final mountain stage, the one that could have added something to a Tour dominated by Pogačar, almost nothing happens.

And so the only two thrills come from the new victory of the Dutchman Thymen Arensman, nicknamed the “Pelican” for his long and lean build (192 cm x 60 kg) and from a daring clash on the finish line between a strong security guard and his majesty Tadej Pogacar.

An absolutely fortuitous clash, almost comical à la Laurel and Hardy, which added a touch of humor to a truly boring stage that was almost always controlled by the yellow jersey and Vingegaard, the two eternal rivals, who now travel every day in this Tour in pairs like the police.

With fuel running low (even Pogacar revealed his human side), neither felt capable of unleashing a brawl. And so, on this stage, shortened by 35 km from the planned 130 km due to a bovine disease outbreak, the two leaders opted for a poisonous truce. Which goes something like this: I can't win this stage, but neither can you. Arensman understood this clearly, and halfway up the final climb to La Plagne, he dared to take the initiative, pulling away from the top riders by about thirty seconds.

The two rivals, along with German Lipowitz and Scotsman Onley (essentially the podium finishers of this Tour), looked at each other for the umpteenth time and decided that this was the right thing to do. That Arensman's victory, his second in this Tour, resolved a delicate diplomatic issue between the yellow jersey and its looming shadow.