Riders far back on GC have to attack on Tour de France Pyrenees opener, says Nicolas Portal
The Team Ineos sports director says the plan is to stay united in the face of ambitious attacks
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter


If they are going to have a chance at the Tour de France, then the riders further down in the classification need to attack on the stage 12 Pyrenes opener, according to Team Ineos sports director Nicolas Portal.
Portal, overseeing Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal, says that rivals like Mikel Landa (Movistar) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) could make their moves over the day's two daunting climbs.
"I don't expect a big shake up on the GC because the next day we have the TT," Portal told Cycling Weekly.
"If you are quite close in the GC and you try to [go hard] on the front, the next day you could pay for it in the TT and the next day, the big summit finish at the Tourmalet. For the guys who are far back on the GC, they can try to do a long one. I think they have to."
>>> Five talking points from stage 11 of the Tour de France 2019
Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) leads the race overall by 1-12 over Geraint Thomas after 11 stages of the Tour de France 2019.
Thomas leads the potential Tour winners, with four seconds on Egan Bernal and 15 seconds on Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma), and a much larger buffer on other major rivals. Rigoberto Urán (EF Education First) trails by around two minutes, Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) by more.
"I would say this is the hors d'oeuvres, the starter. There are still two hard climbs, the Peyresourde and the Hourquette. It's pretty hard climb, it's on a small road, all in the forest, pretty steep, and then on the top there are still a lot of kilometres going down, descending to the finish," said Portal.
"Because then it's three days hard, the TT, then the Tourmalet summit finish at altitude, where you have to go deep also, and the next day the summit finish at altitude with a long stage in the Pyrenees. Three days to back it up."
The two passes go just above 1500 metres on stage 12 and the second, final climb is followed by a descent of around 32km.
>>> George Bennett accepts sacrificing his own GC chances to support team aims at Tour de France
Team Ineos wants to rally around Thomas and Bernal to help them save their energy for the 27.2km time trial on stage 13, where Thomas could take more time on his rivals.
"It will be okay for us as long as we stay united," added Portal. "We can expect to be attacked by anyone, but we have to stay all together and work as a unit, but it will be more about making sure our leaders G and Egan don't spend energy and we bring them to the finish."
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
-
-
Ethan Hayter seals overall victory at Tour of Poland
The win is Hayter's first on GC at WorldTour level, and his second overall senior victory
By Ryan Dabbs • Published
-
Dylan Teuns moves mid-season to Israel-PremierTech
Belgian rider moves to new team from Bahrain Victorious in unusual mid-season transfer
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Commonwealth Games 2022 preview: the men’s and women’s road race
Both races will take place on Sunday 7 August in the town of Warwick
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Mark Cavendish withdraws from Tour de Pologne to focus on Commonwealth Games
British National Champion due to compete in the road race on Sunday for the Isle of Man
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
'He's going to win some big bike races' - Tom Pidcock hails Sam Watson as he turns pro with Groupama-FDJ
U23 British National champion has impressed his French team and more besides
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Commonwealth Games 2022 preview: men’s and women’s time trials
Both races against the clock take place in Wolverhampton on Thursday
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Adam Yates and Ineos Grenadiers discuss contract extension with Briton not assured of same Grand Tour opportunities
The Briton joined Ineos Grenadiers two years ago and is thought to be attracting interest from elsewhere
By Chris Marshall-Bell • Published
-
Leo Hayter joins Ineos Grenadiers as stagiaire before turning pro with team in 2023
Baby Giro winner will move to highest level next season alongside his brother with British team
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Dave Brailsford admits Geraint Thomas proved Ineos management wrong at Tour de France
Ineos Grenadiers director of sport lauds performance of Welshman along with Tom Pidcock
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-