Tadej Pogacar proves rivalry with Jonas Vingegaard is far from dead

Driving east on the A64 motorway from Pau yesterday morning, there could only be one place to stop for coffee. The Aire des Pyrénées is a rest area like no other, because it is here you find Jean-Bernard Métais’s extraordinary sculpture, Le Tour de France dans les Pyrénées. Erected on elevated ground overlooking the motorway, Métais’s creation depicts eight cyclists on a steep climb. There is one in yellow, his arms in the air, the other seven toiling behind.

Thirty metres wide, 18 metres high, Métais’s steel monument is a stunning piece. It is thought to symbolise the ascent of the Col du Tourmalet. On stone slabs at the bottom, the history of the Tour in the Pyrénées is told in 12 stages. It