TDF Daily: Powless reclaims polka-dot jersey; James Shaw finishes fifth

Stage six was set to be a Pyrenean classic. The race would cross the Col d’Aspin and the storied summit of the Tourmalet before the final ascent to Cauterets-Cambasque. After missing the early move on the first Pyrénéan stage, Neilson wanted to redeem himself. He had fallen in love with the polka dot jersey; leading the Tour’s climber’s classification fulfilled a boyhood dream. After making a huge effort in the mountains today, his favorite shirt is back on his shoulders.

Early in today’s stage, Neilson could only watch from the peloton as a strong group rolled up the road. James Shaw was on their wheels, but if Neilson didn’t pick up points today he would be out of the game. He saw a chance and went for it. After a massive turn, he managed to make it across to the break and join James before the top of the first col. Neilson cruised over the summit of the third-category Côte de Capvern-les-Bains to get maximum points. He and James then rolled through, so Neilson could lead over the mighty Col d’Aspin.

They hurtled down its slopes on a ribbon of road that wound through rock-strewn green meadows and into the sun-baked valley. Ahead of them lay the Tourmalet. The first great col the Tour ever climbed is still one of its spectacular theaters.

A high-altitude block party was waiting for them all the way to the summit. Neilson was suffering after his earlier efforts, but still managed to add to his points total at the top.

Meanwhile, James Shaw was riding into his own. His performance today affirmed the belief that he has always had in himself. After struggling to adjust to WorldTour racing as a young rider, he kicked around bike racing’s minor leagues for years, before our team noticed his talent and gave him another shot. Instead of becoming a train driver or mechanic, he’s riding his first Tour de France at 27.

And today, on a route where bike racing greats have been proving themselves for over a century, James Shaw rode to fifth against the best climbers in the world. Now, everyone else knows that he has got what it takes to contend for stages at the Tour de France.

Read his thoughts about today’s race as well as those of his teammates in our Tour de France daily.

Our DS Juanma and I had a meeting this morning, and he said, "Are you feeling alright, are you sure you are up for it?” And I said “look, when I say, I’m going to go, I’m going to, and I’m just going to empty the tank,” and I think I did exactly that today. Over the top of the Tourmalet, I was on my limit. I was trying not to show it. I was trying to poker face, but I was absolutely on the limit. I started getting cramps up the front of my legs, and I was like “don’t show any weakness, put your poker face on.”

I managed to recover on the descent and just held on for as long as I could on the final climb.

Neilson did the same. I think both of us can hold our heads high knowing that we gave everything. I don’t think either of us would say, “oh we could have given a bit more.” I think both of us pushed ourselves hard. How on earth Vingegaard and Pogacar came across there—that was unbelievable, but that was good because then we had the best VIP seat in the house to watch the race.

I just didn’t want to get dropped. I was just like one more k, one more k, one more k, and when Van Aert did his thing and pulled off, I was just like right, I’ve got to just ride my own tempo now. I am already in the red. I’m just going to have to sit on that red line for as long as I can.

To be honest, I struggled on the first day of the Tour, struggled to take it all in. It is turned up to 11 and I was a bit—I think I let it get to me. Juanma came to me and he tried to calm me down a bit and I think today I was able to ride like I know I can and he knows I can and there are more days obviously to come.

I think this is the confidence booster that I needed. The Tour is so dominant. Everything is so big and there is so much pressure and just everything. To begin with, there wasn’t so much pressure, because it was all on Richie (Carapaz) to just sort of do his thing. Not that the pressure is now on us, but the whole dynamic is different—the dynamic has gone into stage hunting and I don’t think that is a secret. I think that is pretty obvious that that is what we are here to do. And that will relieve the pressure a little bit more to sort of get stuck in yourself. I did see myself coming here and putting a lot more eggs in his basket. Now I’ve got a few eggs in my basket, I’m like ok, I’ll try not to drop them.

Going into today, I knew that if I didn’t make it into the breakaway that might have been the end of my polka-dots. I saw a big group go and I ended up seeing an opportunity to go across and I just gave it everything to get across to that group and get to the breakaway. I was really happy to be there, and I tried to take as many points as I could, but I just felt like I was on my limit the whole day after bridging across to the break like that, but I put myself back in the game and hopefully we can keep moving in the right direction.

My DSs were just telling me how many places deep the points were going, who was going for points. We had to keep an eye on a former teammate of mine Ruben Guerreiro, because he started going for them as well, so I just had to try to do everything I could to take as many points as I could and take some away from him as well, but in the end I was able to take quite a few today, so it was a good day.

It is a friendly rivalry. I know how sneaky he can be because we have been roommates in the past and talking about how easy it was that we flicked some other guys in the breakaway and whatnot. I know exactly how he operates and I was just keeping my eye on him as much as I could.

I was struggling over the last couple of climbs. My legs were cramping, but I just gave everything to the finish, because you never know where you will end up.

James is paving the way for his future today. He showed how good he is, how good he can be in the mountains. He had an incredible ride today. It was really nice to have him up there, because he is a really nice guy and a great teammate so it was really nice to have some company.

The next few days should be easier. I am going to try to recover, as much as I can, just get some sleep, get a message, try to fix my legs up—hopefully they don’t cramp again— and try to come back for the next mountain stages.

It was pretty tough. I arrived in a group mostly with the guys from the breakaway yesterday. We’d paid for that. It is the Tour de France, stage 5. We are really happy. We are really proud of James and what he did in the front. Neilson obviously is back in the jersey, so we have some work to finish up until Paris. 

The fans were beautiful, especially the ones from the Basque Country. You can see them with their orange jerseys and the Basque flags and they know every single rider in the peloton. They are unbelievable.

For me, there was not much to say again. The break went. We had some guys in there. Not me, but still all is good for the team, but I didn’t really have anything to do today after that. I hope I get my turn soon. I am getting a little bit jealous. I just have to get a little bit better. 

The atmosphere is great. It is pretty insane, riding up, I have the luxury to go easy a little bit on top of the peloton and there are so many fans up there. There are lots of Danes, but also lots of Basques and French and they pretty much all know me.

Today was really hard, but today we can be really happy—the whole team, with James and with Neilson, who took the mountain jersey. We are happy and proud.