Original subtitles

Winning Alpe d'Huez is any rider's dream.

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.

I think it was like seven out of eight years we won.

And 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 haven't even won a stage here yet.

A team like this has to win.

Now we have to take more risks.

We have two strategies.

One, make sure that Gawain is protected for the general classification.

The second is to go for 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 on the back of your mind and that's the big goal.

The pressure is massive.

Jonas Vengergaard takes the yellow jersey.

I have no words.

We've just witnessed an extraordinarily brutal and hellish stage.

These riders gave everything.

Geraint Thomas remains fourth in the classification

after a stage that set all the favourites head to head.

That was fucking mental, wasn't it?

Good training for the Pyrenees.

Oh, man.

One guy today, top of the glib, eh?

Just stood in front of me going...

But he didn't fucking move.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Right knob at, like, last minute.

I was just expecting him to move last minute, like... Yeah.

Did you not know that?

Did you not know that?

It's intense.

Right, I'll see you later, bud.

Ciao, bud.

My role has changed this year in the team.

I'm a bit more of, like, a squad captain, so

to speak, 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?

Yeah, it was OK.

I just feel like Jumbo took control of the race.

Yeah.

And we, well, didn't.

We came in saying we're going to keep pressure on

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 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 descent, he is completely fearless.

He's one of the few cyclists that is genuinely exciting when you watch him race.

He has proven his ability to win in other disciplines but

he's young he's on his way but he's still finding his feet.

I don't know what to say to be honest taking the piss innit.

He's yet to prove his abilities on the road so coming

to the Tour de France with Team Minios 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 win for other people.

That's the job.

The support riders for the tour we call them domestiques

is 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?

Have you got Hydro in there?

Yeah.

Tom has two bottles of water.

If anyone else wants anything?

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 people 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?

Or do you think we should just continue as we've been doing?

As we have been.

So just for example if we were to send Tom up the road tomorrow...

Sending 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 and

that's obviously because I'm thinking of myself.

Sometimes the strategy for the general classification

you've just got to stay very 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.

You've got to look after Geraint.

But also look to give somebody the opportunity to go for the stage win.

What do you think is possible for you tomorrow?

I don't know but how's the break going to go here

because it's uphill from the start basically.

It's quite violent.

Well how do you even play this day?

Up down, up down.

165k.

Just my opinion I think you should look at tomorrow as an opportunity.

With your characteristics you can pretty much win any stage.

Fucking going to 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.

Welcome to stage 12.

Today is Bastille day.

The crowd is going completely crazy.

I think he's going to come off with a knee.

165km ahead today.

Finishing on Alpe d'Huez.

The most iconic climb of the Tour de France.

It's a legend of epic battles.

Written by champions.

Sometimes the exuberance of the crowd can be scary.

There's nowhere like it.

It is a place like no other in the Tour's history.

Today it's Alpe d'Huez.

We'll put on a real show.

The riders arrive in Brienzon and we're hoping for some fireworks today.

So yesterday was one of those days, right?

We've all had them and 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 a team in EOS.

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.

This year they faced relegation.

So they're coming into the Tour with a lot of pressure.

It is so important that they perform the Tour de France.

Because if they don't, they're going to lose their sponsors.

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 Uran.

My role in the team is to cheer them up and to bring them a lot of joy.

My first Tour de France was in 2009.

Back then you needed to be in your late 20s to compete

in the Tour, but nowadays you can win it at 21.

Rigo, he's a natural leader.

He's finished on the podium of the Tour de France, he's an Olympic medalist.

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 person.

So for our team, we would support Rigoberto Uran.

So there's seven riders there for Rigo.

Unfortunately, Rigo's had quite the run of bad luck in this Tour de France.

He's down.

Rigo down, Rigo down.

I'm there for a week.

Uran is in trouble.

He's got a problem with his chain.

Big crash.

Loads of riders on the deck.

Rigoberto Uran back at the medical car.

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.

They're going for the finish line.

And Magnus Korp goes full throttle.

He crosses the line.

I've

been able to hold 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 the most suited to winning this stage?

Nilsson Paulus pounds the pedals every day.

He's on the right track.

Will it pay off someday?

Of course.

Paulus gives 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.

Francis and I moved to France last year.

It was a big step.

But, you know, it's a job that I have to make the most of

because I'm sacrificing a lot to make it happen, make it work.

Work in progress, but this is home.

Tour de France is the biggest race on the calendar all year.

Winning a stage would make all of the sacrifices I've made be worth it.

There's loads of people who lost yesterday who

are going to want to try and get the break.

Right?

So it's going to be a huge battle.

Nielsen, I think you can try and get in.

You feel happy with that?

Yeah.

JV?

American went on top of Alpe d'Huez, man.

That's prime time, baby.

Prime time.

Are we good, guys?

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm pretty motivated to get there first.

Nielsen looked good.

This was good.

He was good this morning at breakfast.

Today, they're going to have to look for the early break.

You know, even getting into the breakaway is going to 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 of Alpe d'Huez.

He will go deep today, that's for sure.

But I've said this before, sometimes I worry

about when he gets a little over-motivated.

Today, Alpe d'Huez 165.

Arguably the hardest stage of the tour.

But maybe one of the most beautiful finishes.

The same as yesterday.

Gene, I think, did really well.

Tom, let's try and win this stage.

Okay?

Just be ready for anything that'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 he 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 are you feeling about today?

Today is a big day.

But if we finish up Alpe d'Huez, that's going to be spectacular.

You know, I've raced on 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 point in their career will be given a chance.

A 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.

There's Geraint Thomas.

He's won the Tour before.

Currently fourth in the general

classification and looks in very good shape.

We're talking about the Ineos Grenadiers.

One of the biggest teams in pro cycling.

They only care about one thing.

Winning.

This stage leads us over three massive climbs.

Le Galibier, La Croix de Fer and L'Alpe d 'Huez.

Three, two...

The twelfth stage of the Tour de France has begun.

Today's climbs are off the charts, I can tell you.

For EF, it is all or nothing.

Somebody's going to have to raise their game and do something magical.

Nielsen-Palmas goes straight in with an attack.

That's a big surprise so early in this stage.

Can he do something special today?

Nielsen is so low.

Manage your effort, Nielsen.

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 sure this is the smartest thing to do.

We wanted Nielsen 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.

12 seconds of controlled effort, Nielsen.

Keep a cool head, Nielsen.

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 Paulus, a small group has just

detached from the peloton in a counter attack.

What I worry about with Nielsen is that he's an incredible athlete.

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.

The front riders are picking up speed.

Another surge.

The

lead group has nearly reached the summit of the day's first climb.

And here's the peloton, led by the yellow jersey team.

Right behind, Geraint Thomas surrounded by his team.

And it's off to Col de Galibier.

The first three riders with 1.47.

That's 1.47 Paulus.

It's not just the climbs that are the challenge.

There are the famous descents.

They will just push you to the limit if you lack technique.

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 was not the fastest or the strongest.

And Tom Pitcock makes a move.

A rider's broken away from the peloton.

It's an Ineos Grenadier.

He's making an extremely fast descent.

Two Ineos Grenadiers have a plan to put Tom Pitcock 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.

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 Pitcock accelerating in his descent now.

He's flying down there like a rocket.

Jesus.

Check it out.

In the Alpine Descent, you have to be incredibly skillful.

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 kilometers an 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.

It was too dangerous.

Today, though, it's a key part for any rider who wants to compete.

Look at the difference in their trajectories.

Pitcock is in full flow.

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.

Pitcock is descending at a crazy speed to try and catch a lead group.

Pitcock makes it down safe and sound.

Paulus is alone at the front.

If the race is six hours long, 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.

Nilsson Paulus is still out front.

But Tom Pitcock is gaining at full speed.

Wait!

Oh, God, no, no, no, no.

Paulus is joined by Tom Pitcock.

They're at the front.

Two riders at the front.

Two riders at the front.

The moment Pitcock flies up my inside, I am totally shocked.

I couldn't believe it.

It felt like he came out of nowhere.

And I realized, oh, my God, he closed a minute on this descent.

If anyone's descending like that, then they've got a mission on their mind.

It made me realize he's fit and he's going for a win today.

He's a real threat.

Nilsson Paulus and Tom Pitcock 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 13K 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 I needed a pee.

So I needed to go do that.

Good lad, he's having a piss.

He's a fucking legend.

The lead grip remains intact.

Heading towards Alpe d'Huez now.

And 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 going to 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 finding the Tour for the first time is

they just get excited by the crowd and they go too deep too early.

So they've started to climb.

Oh, mate, I hope Tom wins the stage.

In the group, you're always kind of looking to see how

they're feeling and trying to save more energy than them.

Even pretending that you're tired as well sometimes.

At one point, I asked him straight, how are you feeling?

Nielsen said he had a bad stomach.

So 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?

Like, is he really feeling good or is he really feeling bad?

We do the first two kilometres pretty slowly.

And I want to test my strength.

I want to test everyone's legs to see their real colours, see how strong they are.

And Tom Pitcock makes a massive attack.

He breaks away.

Driving home his advantage.

He's left behind Paulus.

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.

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, Nielsen!

Come on!

At that point, it kind of snaps the elastic.

Got just set into the rhythm of noise.

Digging in at the front, Tom Pitcock extends his lead.

Nielsen-Paul is struggling.

That's a big surprise.

You can see how dead that was.

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, my God!

Nielsen, no!

Yeah, unfortunately, I just didn't have quite as much left in me.

The crowd has gone completely mad.

What an atmosphere here 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.

Don't want them to affect the race and, like, touch riders and bring people home.

But the passion and the, you know, the volume definitely spurs you on.

There's a four-minute gap between the yellow jersey group and the breakaway.

Geraint Thomas is right behind Tadej Pogacar.

Come on, boys, come on.

Around 7km to the top.

Around 7km.

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 just totally blanked out at the break.

We knew we weren't going to catch them, so I was just focused

on digging in and trying to gain time off my GC position.

Tom Pidcock has a 33-second lead.

And it is like, you know, the sea parting in front of you.

And it's amazing that they don't knock any riders off.

Pidcock is close to securing his place in Alpe d'Huez history.

Hi, Tom.

Nice corner.

Here's Tom Pidcock.

John

Brett is only 22 years old, the youngest winner in Alpe d'Huez history.

Come on, Tom.

Come on, Tom.

Come on, Tom.

Fourth place goes to Nilsson Paulus.

He was the first to break away on this stage, but he wasn't destined to win 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 this 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.

Nilsson's fourth on Alpe d'Huez and Magnus' stage win

gets us in a little bit more security for the team.

And it's something I think we could be immensely proud of.

It's something I think we could be immensely proud of.

Geraint Thomas is in a perfect position.

If he can stay on the wheel of these two

riders, then he'll be in the top three for sure.

Come on, let's get to that last 2K.

Come on, G.

Come on, mate.

The last corner before the finish line.

Geraint Thomas goes for it.

So do Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Wengergaard.

Look at these three riders go.

They're giving it everything.

Geraint Thomas moves up to third place in the general classification.

Grande.

We go straight to the hotel?

We go straight to the disco, maybe.

Good luck getting out, mate.

Good on you.

It was a huge gamble by INEOS.

Allowing Tom Pitcock 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 Pitcock, first Tour de France, a 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.

Something like 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.

Classer.

What will you do tonight?

Well, tonight?

I'm gonna have to do a speech, aren't I?

I'm not ready for that.

Speech, rice and chicken.

Same as every other day.

Have a good day, all right?

Slipping up the GC, quite nicely.

Yeah, for Tom to win, it's amazing for the team.

It gave everyone a boost.

But then, a lot can still go wrong.

Someone can 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 want to stay in the Tour de France so far.

If Jasper Philipsen continues like this, his future in the team is in doubt.

There is no space for disaster.

We've reached the ultimate test for the top riders in the world.

The Pyrenees.

To have a hope of success, you must believe.

But if you don't believe, then it's over.

I'm sadistic.

Reaching the Champs-Élysées is a dream that they all have.

Having a rider on the Tour de France podium is the grill.