Winning Alpe d'Huez is a dream for any cyclist.
It's a mythical place. Where we know we will make history.
Winning Alpe d’Huez was amazing.
When you’re dominant and you’re winning all the time,
people want somebody else to win.
As Team Sky, we did so well. It was all about the Tour.
And we were so successful. It was seven out of eight years we won.
Then the reason INEOS came on board to sponsor us was because
of that success in the Tour.
But we haven't won the Tour in three years.
This year, Geraint Thomas is holding on to fourth place,
and the British INEOS team have yet to win a single stage.
A team like this has to win. Now, we have to take more risks.
We have two strategies. One, make sure that Geraint is protected
for the general classification.
The second is to go for a stage win.
But it's a gamble. You never know how it's going to play out.
To win a stage of the Tour, it can change a rider's life.
But for me personally, you've always got the yellow jersey
in the back of your mind, and that's the big goal.
The pressure is massive.
TOUR DE FRANCE: UNCHAINED
AT BREAKNECK SPEED
END OF STAGE 11
Jonas Vingegaard takes the yellow jersey.
I have no words.
We have been witness to a brutal, terrible, nightmarish stage.
These riders gave everything.
Geraint Thomas stays in fourth place
in the general classification
after a stage that set all the favourites head to head.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION YELLOW JERSEY
That was fucking mental, wasn't it?
-Good training for the Pyrenees. -Oh, man!
One guy today, top of the Galibier…
just stood in front of me going, "Rah!"
But he didn't fucking move.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A right knobhead. Like, at last minute…
I was just expecting him to move last minute, like…
Do you not remember that?
It's intense.
-Right, I'll see you later, butt. -Ciao, butt.
My role has changed this year in the team.
I'm a bit more of like, uh…
a squad captain, so to speak,
um, rather than the out-and-out leader.
We've got a lot of strong young guys,
and the focus has turned more towards them.
You all right, Tom?
How was your day?
I just feel like Jumbo took control of the race.
Yeah.
TEAM MEMBER / INEOS GRENADIERS
And we, well, didn't.
We came in saying we were going to keep pressuring Jumbo, but…
we didn't do anything to do that, you know?
I'm Tom Pidcock.
I ride for the INEOS Grenadiers. And it's my first Tour de France.
I'm an Olympic mountain bike champion.
World champion in multiple disciplines.
He is this wonder-kid of global cycling.
He can climb.
He can sprint.
On the descents, he is completely fearless.
He's one of the few cyclists that is genuinely exciting
when you watch him race.
He has proved his ability to win in other disciplines.
But he's young. He's still learning the ropes of this discipline.
EX PROFESSIONAL RIDER
I don’t know what to say, to be honest. He’s taking the piss, isn't he?
He's yet to prove his abilities on the road.
Whoo!
So, coming to the Tour de France with Team INEOS, it's a risk.
Since turning pro, I haven't done many stage races,
so I haven't really…
yeah, tested myself.
For me, it's difficult.
I'm in the biggest bike race in the world, and I'm not really enjoying it that much.
My role is kind of a few things.
Learn, gain experience for the future, and basically riding on the front.
Taking the wind for other people.
That's the job.
The support riders for the Tour, we call them "domestiques."
It's the traditional name for a rider who supports a leader.
"Domestique" literally means servant,
and that is the role that those riders are here to serve.
You're the person who's going to the side of the road
to pick up the bags of food and the multiple bottles
and stuffing them down your jersey.
Does anyone else want anything?
-You got Hydro in there? -Yeah.
Tom has two bottles of water, if anybody needs water.
Yeah, I'll have one, mate.
G would like some water.
It's not very fun,
but if you understand the purpose of it, it's an important job.
For some, it's a dedicated role. It's all they ever do in their career.
They perhaps never win a stage.
I'm 100% down for helping my teammates
whenever they need me to.
But when the day is better suited to me, then yeah, I want to be able to race.
How do you think we should use the team best for you tomorrow?
-Think we should continue… -As we have been.
If we were to send Tom up the road tomorrow…
Send him up the road for what?
Well, yeah, to win the stage.
I don't know why you'd risk that, like, now.
We have to take a risk.
If we're not prepared to take a risk, we're not going to win a stage.
He can try if he gets in the break.
But, ideally, I'd say Tom stay with us tomorrow.
That's obviously because I'm thinking of myself.
Sometimes strategy for general classification,
you've got to stay consistent every single day.
It's all about the end game, not the actual individual stages.
So, for Geraint this year, it's all about the end game.
Make sure that the general classification is protected
every step of the way, all the way to Paris.
We've got to look after Geraint,
but also look to give somebody the opportunity to go for the stage win.
What do you think's possible for you tomorrow?
I don't know, but how is the break gonna get away?
'Cause it's uphill from the start, basically.
It's quite violent.
How do you even play this day, I mean?
Up down, up down…
Hundred and sixty-five K.
Just my opinion…
I think you should look at tomorrow as an opportunity.
With your characteristics, you can pretty much win that stage.
Gonna be hard, isn't it?
I might be wrong, doesn't really matter what I believe.
It's more important what you believe.
With Tom, it's exciting when you get a new rider as talented as he is
to explore, like, his potential.
But at the same time,
with that comes a certain pressure.
He has to perform, and performing in this team is winning.
STAGE 12
Welcome to stage 12.
Today is Bastille Day.
The crowd is going completely crazy.
One hundred and sixty-five kilometres in store today,
finishing on Alpe d'Huez, the most iconic climb of the Tour de France.
It's a legend written by champions,
after epic battles, of course.
Sometimes, the exuberance of the crowd can be scary.
It's a place like no other in the history of the Tour de France.
GENERAL DIRECTOR THE TOUR DE FRANCE
Today it's Alpe d'Huez. You can put on a real show.
CEO / GROUPAMA FDJ
The riders roll into town.
We are in for some fireworks today.
So, yesterday was one of those days, right?
We've all had them.
And it probably isn't going to be the last one.
You're maybe going to suffer a bit today.
If you look on the profile, it looks like something from Lord of the Rings. Right?
EF Education First is definitely a team that is polar opposite to Team INEOS.
They are a team of misfits.
They are relatively a small budget team.
But for some of those riders, the younger riders,
this is the opportunity you've got to grasp.
-Francesca! -Francesca.
This year, they face relegation,
so they're coming into the Tour with a lot of pressure.
It's so important that they perform in the Tour de France.
Because if they don't, they're gonna lose their sponsors.
The revenues that keep the teams alive
are derived almost entirely from sponsors.
If we're not commercially successful,
our team is not going to be around very long.
For us to survive,
it's imperative that our team gets noticed in this Tour de France.
A lot of that comes down to our leader.
My name is Rigoberto Urán.
My role in the team is to…
bring joy. To make the guys happy.
My first Tour de France was in 2009.
You needed to be 27, 29, 30 years old to complete the Tour.
Nowadays, at the age of 21, they win it.
Rigo, he's a natural leader.
He's finished on the podium of the Tour de France.
He's an Olympic medallist.
The guys, they all look at him just sort of…
in awe.
He's their hero.
In the Tour de France, most teams are there to support one… one person.
So, for our team, we would support Rigoberto Urán.
So there's seven riders there for Rigo.
Unfortunately, Rigo's had quite the run of bad luck in this Tour de France.
STAGE 2
Oh, he's down!
Rigo down! Rigo down!
Oh, fuck!
And Urán is in trouble.
Rigoberto Urán is having a problem with his chain.
STAGE 8
A big crash with lots of riders on the deck.
Rigoberto Urán is back at the medical car,
and now you can see the injuries to his right arm.
Rigo has scars from head to toe.
I mean, he's got one shoulder that sort of leans down more than the other one.
He's a pretty beat up old warrior.
The team has to find a new path forward.
STAGE 10
They're gunning for the finish line.
And Magnus Cort goes full throttle.
He's over the line!
Even though we have been able to pull off a stage win, it's not enough.
We need to be in the running each and every day
to get the points just to survive.
Who is the rider most suited to winning this stage?
Neilson Powless stands on his pedals.
Every day he tries to make the right choice and go all the way.
Oof!
-Come on! Come on Neilson! Go! -Come on!
Look at Neilson Powless. He's giving it everything he's got!
Right now, he's physically at the best point that he's ever been at.
I came to the Tour de France riding for Rigo.
But it seems like the crashes started to catch up with him.
So now I have to step up for the team.
To train for the Tour de France,
you have to live like a monk and just be at altitude
for three months a year.
All these crazy diets to go on
to make yourself skinny so that you can show up at race weight.
I had to leave my home.
I had to leave my family.
Relocate to a different part of the world.
Frances and I moved to France last year.
It was a big step. But, you know, it's a job I have to make the most of,
because I'm sacrificing a lot to make it happen, make it work.
A work in progress, but this is home.
The Tour de France is the biggest race on the calendar all year.
Winning a stage would make all the sacrifices I've made be worth it.
There's loads of people who lost yesterday who are gonna want to get into the break.
Right? So, it's gonna be a huge battle.
Neilson, I think you can try and get in.
-You feel happy with that? -Yeah.
JV?
American winning on top of Alpe d'Huez, man, that's, uh,
that's primetime, baby.
Primetime!
Are we good, guys?
Yep.
Um, yeah, I'm pretty motivated to get there first.
Neilson looked good this morning at breakfast.
Today, they're gonna have to look for their early break.
Even getting into the breakaway is gonna be an enormous effort.
If he gets in there,
and it's the right group of riders, and he plays his cards right,
I think he's got a reasonable shot at winning on top Alpe d'Huez.
He will go deep today.
That's for sure, but I've said this before, I…
sometimes I worry about when he gets a little over-motivated.
Today, Alpe d'Huez… 165 K.
Arguably, the hardest stage of the Tour.
But maybe one of the most beautiful finishes.
The same as yesterday, G., I think you did really well.
Tom, let's try and win this stage. Okay?
Just be ready for anything, it's a bit mental.
Today is an absolutely crucial day.
With a strategy like this, worst case scenario is that
Tom makes the break, but doesn't win the stage,
and Geraint loses time because you've got one guy less
supporting a lead rider.
But that's the gamble for us.
How you feeling about today?
Today is a big day.
But…
we finish with Alpe d'Huez.
That's gonna be spectacular.
I've raced up mountains before, but not in the pros.
Bastille Day, Alpe d'Huez… I think it's going to be insane, yeah.
Every domestique, at some points in their career,
will be given the chance to prove themselves.
And it can be
a poison chalice or a golden opportunity.
And that's why it's about
who can switch roles
from being a loyal teammate, a loyal lieutenant, a loyal domestique,
to being a natural-born winner.
Here comes Geraint Thomas, who has won the Tour before.
He's currently fourth in general classification,
and looks in very good shape.
We're talking about Team INEOS.
It's one of the biggest teams in pro cycling.
They care about one thing only, winning.
This stage leads us over three massive climbs,
le Galibier, la Croix de Fer, and l'Alpe d'Huez.
Three, two, one…
And they're off!
The 12th stage of the Tour de France has begun.
VOICE OF RADIO TOUR
Today's climbs are off the charts.
For EF, it is all or nothing.
Somebody is going to have to raise their game and do something magical.
Neilson Powless goes straight in with an attack.
That's a big surprise so early in the stage.
Can he do something special today?
Neilson is solo.
Manage your effort, Neilson.
Manage your effort.
I just thought, you know, screw it.
This is going to finally be the stage where I can do it.
I'm not sure this is the smartest thing to do…
We wanted Neilson to be up there at the front of the race.
But not necessarily so early on.
On a stage like this,
it's so important to conserve enough energy for that final climb.
I knew that if I wanted to give myself the best opportunity of winning,
my best chance would be to get to the bottom of that climb
with as few climbers as possible.
Twelve seconds. Controlled effort, Neilson.
Keep a cool head, Neilson.
In my mind, opening up the race with a fast pace
on a flat road where climbers may not have the best advantage,
that was the best way to keep climbers out of the breakaway.
Behind Powless, a small group has just
detached from the peloton in a counter-attack.
What I worry about with Neilson is he's an incredible athlete,
but he's got to learn how to be a competitor.
You're dealing with that last fraction
of what human beings are capable of,
in every way.
In power, in endurance, in psychology.
Five riders chase just behind you.
It could be an idea to jump in with them to save some energy.
You obviously have good legs.
Your mind is obviously in the right place.
But don't show those guys who are with you
that you have good legs.
Keep it cool. Play it smart.
Hold on, the front riders are picking up speed. Another surge.
STAGE 12
The lead group has nearly reached the summit of the day's first climb.
And here is the peloton,
led by the yellow jersey team.
And right behind, Geraint Thomas surrounded by his team.
Crossing the Col du Galibier, the first three riders…
with 147, 147 Powless.
It's not just the climbs that are the challenge.
There are those famous descents that push the limits of less technical riders.
And one minute behind, the peloton heads to the summit.
As we were getting to the top, I knew this descent was twisty.
My years of mountain bike and off-road gives me skills
that I can use on the road.
I got a reputation for dive-bombing when I was younger.
But that's how I used to win because I wasn't the fastest or strongest.
And Tom Pidcock surges ahead.
A rider has broken away from the peloton.
It's an INEOS rider. He's making an extremely fast descent.
Oh-ho!
Does INEOS have a plan to put Tom Pidcock in the breakaway?
Good job, Tom. They're not responding behind.
I'm good at adjusting
and predicting where the road will go.
But this is the first time I've been down this one.
I want to get to the front,
but not being stupid to end my Tour de France
after less than two weeks.
Tom Pidcock accelerates in the descent.
He's descending like a bullet!
Jesus!
Check it out.
On the alpine descents, you have to be incredibly skilful.
The hand-eye coordination, the balance.
If you overcook the corner, you're going off the edge of the mountain,
dressed in a layer of Lycra this thick.
Think about driving down the motorway at 100 km/hour
and you're sitting in your swim trunks
and you open up the door and you jump out the car.
That's what it's like to crash.
You've got to be somebody
who is absolutely willing to risk everything.
Thirty years ago, no one attacked on a descent. Too dangerous.
These days, it's a key element for a fully-rounded rider.
Look at the differences in their trajectories. Pidcock is fluid!
It's incredible.
He makes Chris Froome look like an amateur.
Is he on a mission or… What do you think?
I think he's… I'd say he's just really fast downhill.
Pidcock is descending at a crazy speed
to try and catch up to the lead group.
Pidcock makes it safe and sound.
Powless is alone at the front.
If a race is six hours, that's a long time to be focused.
And if you're shaking with excitement in the first hour of the race,
then all that energy is just lost by the last two hours.
Even if you're at the front,
you just have to tell yourself that, "My race hasn't actually started yet."
Neilson Powless still out front.
But Tom Pidcock is catching up at full speed.
Oh God! No, no, no, no, don't…
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Powless is joined by Tom Pidcock. Two riders at the front.
This could get interesting.
The moment Pidcock flies up my inside, I'm totally shocked.
I couldn't believe it. It felt like he came out of nowhere.
And I realise, "Oh my God, he closed a minute on this descent."
If anyone's descending like that, then they got a mission on their mind.
Made me realise, he's fit, and he's going for a win today.
He's a real threat.
Neilson Powless and Tom Pidcock are alone at the front.
What's so remarkable about this is
they're both young, they're both up-and-coming.
It's not just about the, kind of, the yellow jersey group battling it out.
Sometimes you want those younger riders given that opportunity.
And that's when it tests,
have they got the right stuff or not?
So, guys, the valley is 13 K long.
So, Tom, I know you dropped them all in the downhill, but it might be better
to wait and save some energy in the valley.
It's better to use the riders around you if you can.
Then in the back of my head, I was thinking that I needed a pee.
So… I needed to go do that.
-Ha-ha! Good lad. He's having a piss. -Pissing?
-Is he? -Yeah.
He's fucking legend.
STAGE 12
Our lead group remains intact.
Heading towards Alpe d'Huez now, the final climb of the day.
It's the Tour de France's most famous climb.
Thousands of people wait for the riders to arrive.
Now it's gonna be a battle of legs.
And see who gets to the finish line first.
You get chills when you're at the front.
You have on your mind that you might be able to win a stage.
The classic mistake for any young guy
riding the Tour for the first time
is they get excited by the crowd and they go too deep too early.
So they've started the climb.
Oh mate, I hope Tom wins this stage.
In the group, you're always looking to see
how they're feeling and trying to save more energy than them.
Even pretend that you're tired as well sometimes.
At one point I asked them straight, “How are you feeling?”
Neilson said he had, uh, he had a bad stomach.
I don't know whether he was playing or what.
It's constant mind games.
Tom and I were both just constantly looking out
at who was doing more, who was doing less,
how we felt we matched up.
You're watching body language and trying to decide, like,
"Is what he told me actually true?"
"Is he really feeling good or is he really feeling bad?"
We do the first two kilometres pretty slowly.
And I want to test everyone's legs,
to see their real colours, see how strong they are.
And Tom Pidcock makes a huge attack.
He breaks away.
And now he's driving his advantage home.
He's left behind Powless. He's left behind Ciccone.
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!
It feels like he's trying to drop whoever couldn't hang on.
He was just riding it like that was the make-it-or-break-it moment.
I knew that I still had enough power
to get to the top of that climb pretty fast.
And I just had to hope that I could reel them back in.
Come on, go!
Come on, Neilson! Come on!
At that point, it kind of snaps the elastic.
So, I just set into the rhythm of noise.
Pidcock is digging in at the front.
Tom Pidcock extends his lead.
Neilson Powless is struggling. That's a big surprise.
-Oh, fuck off! -Come on.
Because of the length of the climb,
as soon as you go over your limit and blow up,
then there's really no time to recover.
Oh God. Nielson, no!
Yeah, unfortunately, I just didn't have quite as…
quite as much left in me.
The crowd has gone completely mad.
Wow! What an atmosphere in Alpe d'Huez!
That atmosphere is just insane, you know, with the guys, like…
They do get that close that you can smell the beer on the breath sometimes,
which is a bit daunting.
You don't want them to affect the race and touch riders and bring people down.
But the passion and the… you know, the volume,
it definitely spurs you on.
A four-minute gap between the yellow jersey team and the breakaway.
Geraint Thomas is right behind Pogačar.
Come on boys. Come on.
Around seven K to the top. Around seven K.
It's the biggest bike race in the world.
Everyone there is in their best shape. Everyone wants to achieve their goals.
I just have to keep going.
Come on, G, you're so strong today. Come on, Adam. Come on.
I totally blanked out of the break. We knew we weren't going to catch them.
So I was just focused on digging in and trying to gain time on my GC position.
Tom Pidcock has a 33-second lead.
It is like the sea parting in front of you.
And it's amazing that they don't knock any riders off.
Tom Pidcock is close to securing his place in history!
All right, Tom! Last corner.
Victory! Victory goes to Tom Pidcock!
Yeah!
This young Brit is just 22 years old.
And now he's won the Alpe d'Huez.
It's Alpe d'Huez, man.
Good job.
Fourth place goes to Neilson Powless.
Remember that he was the first to break away in this stage.
But that wasn't his destiny today.
I felt like I had done everything right.
But as soon as I crossed the line, I was incredibly disappointed.
And I thought that the plan was perfect.
It's not the way I wanted the stage to turn out.
Fourth place is a legit result on top of Alpe d'Huez.
Would I want him to win? Of course, with all my heart.
But it's still a great result.
Where we started at the beginning of the Tour de France this year
was not a happy place.
But what we've managed to do is beyond everyone's expectation.
Neilson's fourth on Alpe d'Huez
and Magnussen's stage win gets us a bit more security for the team.
And it's something I think we can be immensely proud of.
Geraint Thomas is in a perfect position.
If he can stay at the wheel of these two riders
then he'll be in the top three for sure.
Come on. Let's get to that last two K. Come on, G. Come on, mate.
The last corner before the finish line.
Geraint Thomas goes for it!
So does Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard.
Look at these three riders go!
Geraint Thomas moves up to third place in the general classification.
Grandé.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION YELLOW JERSEY
We go straight to the hotel?
We go straight to the disco, maybe?
Fucking hell, mate!
-Cheers, buddy. -Good on ya.
It was a huge gamble by INEOS,
allowing Tom Pidcock to go on the attack,
and I applaud that bravery, because that's the kind of riding
that makes cycling fascinating and thrilling to watch.
Tom Pidcock, first Tour de France,
first stage on the Alpe d'Huez, you win it.
-Can you believe it? -It's not bad, that, is it?
Yeah, stage win, my first Tour.
Yeah, it's not bad.
It was a beautiful decision to cut him loose on that day.
And to then deliver with the panache with which he did.
It was perfection.
Thank you very much.
Champion…
You okay?
Some day, that.
That is something else.
Mate, you just won the hardest stage of the Tour de France.
Yeah, I've heard a lot of facts like that, actually.
"Hard. The Queen stage."
"Youngest ever winner of Alpe d'Huez."
Look at that bad boy. Classy.
What will you do tonight?
Well, tonight, I got… I'm gonna have to do a speech, aren't I?
I'm not… I'm not ready for that.
Speech.
Rice and chicken.
Same as every other day.
That was a good day, wasn't it.
-Slipping up the GC quite nicely. -Mm.
Come on!
Yeah, for Tom to win,
it's amazing for the team, gave everyone a boost.
But, then a lot can still go wrong.
Someone could overtake me in third.
You have to stay focused on what you're doing.
For me, just to finish on the podium, I need to give it everything I've got.
I'm Jasper Philipsen and my nickname is "Jasper Disaster."
I didn't win a stage on the Tour de France so far.
If Jasper Philipsen keeps losing, his future in the team will be in question.
There's no space for disaster.
We've reached the ultimate test for the world's best riders.
The Pyrenees.
If you believe in it, you have a chance of success,
but if you don't believe in it, then it's over.
Sadistic.
Every rider dreams about the Champs-Élysées.
Having a rider on the Tour de France podium is the Holy Grail.