Updates from the 181km ride from Auch to HautacamStage-by-stage guide | And you can drop Luke a mailThere is always a sense of phoney war in the run-in to the Tour de France’s first stage in the high mountains, and at least one debate of the opening 10 days of this year’s race fits that context to a T. Has Jonas Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike team at times been towing the bunch deliberately in order to ensure that Tadej Pogacar retains the yellow jersey? It’s a gloriously arcane question, the kind that only comes up in the Tour’s opening phase, but it distracts from a point that could be key in the next 10 days: how the two teams manage the race will probably be decisive.Pogacar spoke to media after yesterday’s crash: “I’m a bit beaten up, but we’ve been through worse days. I think everybody was a bit à bloc. There were attacks from Matteo [Jorgenson] and Jonas Vingegaard, they really put everybody on the limit. Unfortunately one rider decided to follow from left to right side of the road. He didn’t see me and he just completely cut me off, my front wheel. Continue reading...