In a grueling stage up La Rosière, 18-year-olds Jarno Widar and Pablo Torres delivered remarkable performances, coming close to Geraint Thomas’s 2018 record on La Rosiere, with Joseph Blackmore ultimately taking the win.
It was the first mountain test in the Tour de l’Avenir, with a finish up La Rosière (9.9 km at 6.8%). The climb was previously featured in the 2018 Tour de France, where Geraint Thomas triumphed over Tom Dumoulin and Chris Froome, winning the stage and taking the overall lead in the race. Six years later, in the Tour de l’Avenir, there was possibly an even more impressive performance, or at least one of a similar level. Before La Rosière, the race was extremely intense. Mats Wenzel expended 1,947 kilojoules over 1 hour and 46 minutes, at a rate of 15.79 kJ/kg/h. The GC group tackled the first two climbs at 5.55 ᵉW/kg for 22 minutes and 5.5 ᵉW/kg for 36 minutes. In comparison, during Thomas’s 2018 stage, which was 38 kilometers longer, the climbs were ridden at a slower pace, with 5 ᵉW/kg for 43 minutes and 5.3 ᵉW/kg for 38 minutes on the two major climbs that day.
One of the race favorites, AJ August, was dropped early in the race, along with the next INEOS hope, Artem Shmidt. Due to a lack of finances, the Norwegian federation did not send their team and one of the best young climbers, Jørgen Nordhagen, to the race. Jarno Widar, the winner of the Giro U23, Giro Valle d’Aosta – Mont Blanc, and Alpes Isère Tour, was likely the main favorite for the win today, with his teammates setting the pace on the early climbs.
On the steep section of La Rosière, Widar launched a decisive attack, reducing the group to just 5-7 riders. Shortly after, he attacked again, going solo off the front. Blackmore, with Torres on his wheel, was chasing. As the gradient increased, Torres was dropped, but Blackmore managed to catch Widar on the steepest part. Torres rejoined the pair and immediately attacked twice, with Widar closing both moves. In the end, Blackmore launched an early sprint to the finish, winning easily as a third-year U23 rider.
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As the stage before the climb was extremely challenging, with tough early climbs (one of the strongest U23 riders, Jakob Söderqvist, finished outside the time limit), and because the average altitude of the climb was moderate and La Rosière itself is not a regular climb, the pure ᵉW/kg numbers were not exceptionally high. Before our segment, on the shallow section, the GC group averaged 5 ᵉW/kg for 12 minutes.
Widar was the most impressive, producing 5.89 ᵉW/kg for 25 minutes and 51 seconds, despite having no draft for two-thirds of the climb. Joseph Blackmore won with 5.80 ᵉW/kg, benefiting from considerably more draft compared to the others, while Pablo Torres averaged 5.75 ᵉW/kg. Both 18-year-olds, Torres and Widar, had already performed well in the U23 Giro on the Fosse stage, finishing 1st and 2nd. Blackmore was nine seconds slower than Thomas in 2018, when the Welshman won the stage with 5.92 ᵉW/kg for 25 minutes and 39 seconds. Had the earlier climbs not been so tough, or the lead group did not tactically stall, the record would very likely have been smashed by Widar or Blackmore.
That’s a pretty impressive performance from Blackmore all things considered. Very interested to see him grow. Widar just confirming the talent we know he has as well.
Also shows where performance has gone since 2018 in terms of w/kg when 18 year olds are threatening TdF winners performances.