French coffee is terrible. The historic French penchant for robusta beans combined with a seemingly lackadaisical commitment to brewing and roasting practices considered de rigueur elsewhere work to make a drink that is, to palates of most Europeans, little more than a bitter blunt caffeine delivery system.
Perhaps that’s why Tadej Pogačar extended an invite to arch rival Jonas Vingegaard to go for coffee on the Tour de France’s second rest day. Under a picture of the pair inseparable atop Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc he wrote: “Heading into the rest day and straight to the coffee shop with Jonas Vingegaard.”
Perhaps he hoped the friendly gesture would mess with his rival’s head, or the coffee would upset his stomach.
Or perhaps it’s a characteristic of a rivalry between the pair that while fierce on the bike seems unusually cordial off it. Rarely are either of the Tour galacticos anything less than magnanimous in defeat, giving the appearance of a genuine warmth in their relationship
