Saturday was one of those stultifying days at the Tour de France where the energy appeared to have been sucked out of the race. Stage eight was designed as a bunch sprint day, with just two category-four climbs on the route, and for most of the day it was ridden as such, with just three riders up the road at a controlled distance, the interested teams at the front, and the inevitable on its way in Bergerac.
It would be hard to blame the peloton, given this was their eighth day in a row of racing in a heatwave, and there are much harder tests to come, including tomorrow’s stage nine in the Massif Central, shortened due to “exceptionally intense” heat. A rolling rest day, as much as possible, is to be forgiven.
However, no one had told Liam Slock. The Lotto-Intermarché rider, probably best known up to this point as the rider who crashed while celebrating his victory at last month’s GP Gippingen, refused to bow to the received wisdom that this should be a sprint. It wasn’t the first time a Lotto rider has done something like this at the Tour, with Baptiste Veistroffer the king of the doomed escape so far.
With 40km to go, the Belgian detached what was left of the break, with apologies to Thibault Guernalec (TotalEnergies) and Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), who are bit-part players in this story now, and charged on alone. The gap, which was never significant, stubbornly refused to come down, as Slock attacked with zeal in the Dordogne.
“Actually, I wasn’t supposed to go in the break, but I saw the chance and the opportunity to go and I went,” he told Cycling Weekly post-race. “Then on top of the climb, I felt I was the strongest of the breakaway, and I went alone. You never know. If you don’t shoot, you always miss.”
With 13km to go, the gap was still at 1:15. Slock still believed, and something had enlivened the otherwise slow day in the middle of France. However, something had to give. The 25-year-old had been pushing 400 watts ever since being alone, 30km previously, and the might of the desperate peloton was closing behind, with each rider being screamed at by their respective directeur sportif to put it all on the line.
“In the last 10km, I started hurting a lot and I lost a bit of time,” Slock continued. “It was a little bit uphill, a little bit of headwind. From there on, it was becoming clear that it was really hard, but in the end I came really close.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
You might already know how this story ends; Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) came from nowhere to sprint to victory, other sprinters disappointed, Slock nowhere to be seen. The Belgian was caught with 1.3km to go, his lonely vigil ended, his attempt to bring some life to a flat stage ruined.
In hindsight, it might seem like a fait accompli that Slock would be caught, that it would end in a bunch sprint; this was what it was designed for, and this is what it was.
However, he believed that he had a chance, even for a moment: “I did believe it was possible, because from 30 to 15km to the end, they didn’t come that much close, so I was thinking it was possible.”
The man from Ghent will always have this, whatever else he does: the day he almost held off the Tour peloton. “Just coming this close to winning a Tour de France stage was a dream since I was a kid, so I am disappointed but I think I’ll be proud this evening,” he said.
Now, here’s no time for celebration. It will be remembered by him, and by others, as a brave move, one which almost turned convention upside down. What’s the plan for tonight? “The same way as every evening, eating and laying on the bed.”
If you don’t shoot you always miss. No one could blame Slock for not shooting. Perhaps next time, it will go in, rather than agonisingly grazing off the crossbar. Thanks, Liam, for enlivening a dull day.
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