Michael Rogers is as good a cycling tactician as you’ll find, but his sudden ability to win three Grand Tour stages in just two months can’t just be put down to talent.
He’s learned some life lessons, and learned well.
Last October Rogers tested positive for Clenbuterol. In April, he beat the charge and returned to racing. It’s fair that Michael Rogers has turned that positive test into a career positive.
“The enforced lay-off was a lesson in life for me. I just accepted the person I was,” Rogers said at a post-stage media conference.
“I always dreamed of winning a Grand Tour. I tried for many years but all of a sudden, I realised that I should stop trying to live someone else’s life.
“I don’t give up easily. I never have.
“Sometimes you need a lesson in life to see the silver lining in the cloud.”
After teammate Alberto Contador crashed out in Stage 10, Rogers admitted Tinkoff-Saxo had no plan B. So he and fellow stage-winner Rafal Majka became the new Plan A.
Yesterday and today’s stages became “Dodger’s” focus.
“Absolutely, we knew today and tomorrow were stages adapted to my characteristics of riding,” he said.
But that didn’t mean Rogers just had to turn up. Setting up the race was really difficult.
“Getting into the break (of 21 riders) was really tough.
“You have to ride the first 30km of the stage as if it were the last 30km, and then obviously you have another 200km to go as well.”
This was made much harder by the strong headwind on the road from Carcasonne. In fact, it took until around the 70km mark before the final selection of 21 was allowed to escape.
By that stage, Rogers had been in the break for about 40km with the gap mostly hovering around 30 seconds. For a long time, there was only four or five riders in the break and with one Europcar rider refusing to work because of a chasing teammate, the gap didn’t grow.
Eventually it did, and by the bottom of the final climb – the Port de Bales—the advantage had stretched to more than 12 minutes over the main bunch.
By the summit, 21 had become just three; Rogers, Europcar’s Tommy Voeckler and Lampre’s Jose Serpa.
Voeckler’s teammate Cyril Gautier and Sky’s Vasil Kiryienka were another 15 seconds in arrears.
The winner would come from these riders and what happened while the break was forming would play a significant role in deciding the result.
The advantage lay with Tommy Voeckler who had won here in 2010 and 2012.
Rogers said he remembered the finish from 2010, and knowing Voeckler would be “super-motivated” for a third win, tried to form an alliance.
Voeckler refused because Gautier was trying to bridge the gap. But Rogers was having none of it.
“Don’t tell me that, not now,” he said to Voeckler. “I heard that from your teammate 200km ago.”
Rogers was unable to prevent the five riders regrouping on the plunging 20km descent so it was advantage Europcar. But not for long.
“They had an advantage tactically with two riders there,” Rogers said.
“They attacked on the descent but probably sent the wrong guy to the front which stopped Voeckler from chasing.
“So I attacked straight away through a corner on the descent where I knew Voeckler was a little bit scared… and opened up a gap.”
That was all the opportunity Rogers needed. His three World Time Trial Gold medals came to the fore as he smashed the Frenchman’s resistance and then soaked up his achievement in the final 500m.
Ten years of hard work, and around 200 stages without a Tour win was about to end. Rogers admitted he was desperate to break that duck.
“I can’t describe the joy of that last 500m when I knew I was going to win.
“I said to myself today on this descent. I’m just going to risk it.
“I’m not a person that takes massive risks but I was desperate for that stage.
“I understood the opportunity that I had in front of me and I was able to take advantage of a Europcar error,” he said.
Small errors at 80kmh in a Grand Tour are magnified and Rogers maximised the chance. He realised it during the dark days of his ban and made a simple, even clichéd theory his mantra.
“I’m racing smarter now.
“I realised that previously in my career I was too calculated, scared of the outcome before it arrived.
“If you try your best, the worst thing that can happen is you lose.
“If you lose, well at least you tried your best, but at least you open the door to more opportunities.
“But those opportunities, I see them much clearer now.”
And the way Michael Rogers is riding, you get the sense there’s plenty more to opportunities to come.
Surely not tomorrow though.
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