Four days after falling 90 meters from a stage victory, it was another closing case but not enough for Lennard Kämna.
The German climber slipped into the breakwater, passed by Megève and hit the slopes to the altiport above the city. The scenario was familiar: at the Critérium du Dauphiné 2020 he had escaped an escape along these same roads, hitting clear and then hitting the sky.
That was two years ago. The 2022 Lennard Kämna is a marked man.
After the agony of Planche des Belles Filles, Kämna had her eye set on a stage victory at Megève, repeatedly and unsuccessfully trying to crawl back into a split race. “I was really committed to this plan,” he said after the stage, spinning his salty legs next to the team bus.
“I really had the feeling that the whole group was against me. It’s like, okay, I’m the favorite, but I think a lot of guys totally collided with their own opportunities to cover me, “he continued. Not angry, just disappointed.
Kämna in La Planche des Belles Filles, with Vingegaard and Pogačar about to ruin their day behind them.
Kämna has had an uphill season, with three wins and counting, but the one that really caught people’s attention was the fourth stage of the Giro. That day, Kämna came out of the break to win a stage on a volcano and was immortalized in Germany to the point of having a train painted with her name on it. Maybe he would have missed his chance to win the stage today for that, but he ended up fighting for a stealthy yellow shirt. He crossed the line in tenth, 22 seconds behind the winner of the stage but with a good lead in the main group.
And then he waited, with a towel around his neck and a camera in his face. Eight and a half minutes later, Tadej Pogačar sprinted down the line to hold the yellow jersey for 11 seconds. Kämna shrugged, walked away, and went down the mountain to the team bus where she found herself in the middle of a mild media storm.
“In the end, it’s sport, it’s not like we give each other presents,” Kämna said, philosophically. “I don’t expect anyone to give me anything, especially the yellow jersey. And they’ve actually given me a lot of time today … so I can almost say thank you, because they gave me the opportunity and I didn’t use it. ”
He laughed softly to himself, pedaling over the coach under the alpine sun, 11 seconds behind the yellow jersey, with half a Tour de France ahead.