GOD IS HUMAN

After his first ever signs of weakness on stage 11 of the Tour de France, Chris Marshall-Bell asks, has Tadej Pogačar lost his aura of invincibility? And what, if anything, can he do to get it back?

- Chris Marshall-Bell

There was a time when Tadej Pogačar was spoken about in hushed tones. He was the godlike figure whose name must be embellished at every opportunity.

No one can touch young Tadej, the story went, the smiling, happy-go-lucky kid with boyish good looks and talent that will surpass all those that have come before him.

Here was a man who was becoming a living myth. A walking, talking and laughing legend whose every pedal stroke generated fevered, excited discussion and prompted enchanted onlookers to desperately try to capture images of the chosen one.

That was just over a week ago. Then, on stage 11 of the Tour de France, across some of the highest roads in the French Alps - the grandest of settings for such a mythical dethroning - came the event that would forever be inscribed into the holy tomes of the cycling archives: ogačar was ambushed. His legs gave out; the mystique shattered.

Jumbo-Visma ganged up on Him, repeatedly tried to batter Him into submission, rip off His saintly cloak and reveal Him as vulnerable - human.

Primož Roglič dealt the first blow, attacking on the mid-slopes of the Col du Galibier. Pogačar reacted, dancing elegantly on the pedals to close him down. More attacks came, but Pogačar proved equal to them.

His team-mates, already two fewer than his attackers, and those still present either struck down by Covid or fatigue, slipped backwards. Pogačar was isolated, but that's central to his invulnerability- he does it all himself, for those who need help are not supreme beings.

They descended, rapidly, from the stratospheric heights of the Galibier. Wout van Aert dropped back to help Roglič, who was now behind the group containing Pogačar. It felt symbolic: any attempt to wound this incarnation of all cycling grace would only result in the attacker, not the defender, being harmed.