Sosa so good for Ineos in Provence
As Iván Sosa rode up Mont Ventoux through the freezing mist and fog, his breath visible in front of him as he exhaled, his eyes directly staring ahead with his glasses tucked into his helmet, you could forgive him for wondering what he was doing in France in February. He’d normally be racing in his native Colombia, if coronavirus hadn’t called off all the South American races. The weather was so cold, heavy snowfall the night before had threatened to call off the Tour de la Provence’s showpiece stage, before organisers managed to clear the roads for the peloton to pass.
With other races cancelled or suspended, the Tour de la Provence took on greater importance than usual. In previous years, it has been a relatively overlooked early season race, falling in that strange gap between the Australian and desert races and the European classics season proper. In 2021, with the effects of the pandemic still lingering, it became a crucial bellwether for stage racing in the early season.
For the second year in a row, the key stage was an partial ascent of Mont Ventoux, with stage 3 finishing at Chalet Reynard, stopping before the lunar landscape of the exposed mountain, but still a tough test for the peloton in February. With only four stages in total, whoever finished ahead of the peloton on Ventoux would surely seal top spot. And so it proved.
For a second year in succession, a Colombian won the queen stage and thus the overall race, although this time it was someone who is relatively new to the highest levels of the sport in Sosa, rather than the experienced Nairo Quintana who took the 2020 title.
Despite it being a 2.Pro race, the startlist for the Tour de la Provence looked like a WorldTour event, with 14 top level teams present, and the world champion Julian Alaphilippe and former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal on the startline. After back-to-back wins from Deceuninck-Quick Step’s Davide Ballerini on the opening two days, the race lead was always going to change hands from the Italian sprinter on stage 3. A seven-man breakaway was never allowed much leeway, with the likes of Astana, Quick Step, Ineos and TrekSegafredo pulling and by 20km to go, and Ventoux looming, the bunch was still all together.
At 7.5km to go and with the gradient kicking up, Ineos moved to the front, with the young Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez setting a high tempo for the others to follow. At 20, Rodriguez is already in his second year with the team, but could be a key ally at stage races this year for Sosa and Bernal, if he can keep this form going. While it looked like the team might be getting ready to set up Bernal, who was on the wheel of Sosa at the head of the peloton, it was Sosa who attacked with 4.7km to go, quickly establishing a gap.
Decked in a casquette, full gloves and toe covers, Sosa’s get-up was unusual for such a decisive push,
but out of the fog at the base of Ventoux, he kept going, safe in the knowledge that Bernal was behind to mark the counter-attacks. With 3.4km to go, Alaphilippe tried to chase Sosa down, but it was too late. Bernal followed before he attacked himself, ensuring an Ineos one-two on the first serious climb of 2021.
Despite missing out on the win, it looked like Alaphilippe is well on his way back, following his crash at Flanders at the end of last season. On the final stage - won by Bahrain’s Phil Bauhaus - the Frenchman managed to take enough bonus seconds to separate Bernal and Sosa on the final podium, consolidating a great race for Quick Step. For Ineos, it continued their winning start to 2021 and served a nice reminder that Bernal is hardly out of contention, either.