The spectacle of Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) coming within a few hundred meters of a Tour de France stage win on Sunday was enough for French commentators to exclaim with delight that the host nation had finally won its first stage in this event, but another Consider also the cycling powerhouse: Spain is now in its fourth July, and has not won a single Tour stage.

Spain's last victory came in 2018 by Omar Freire (Ineos Grenadiers), ahead of Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Alfabinil), in the recently visited summit finish of Mende. Besides, although Enric Mas (Movistar) took fifth overall in 2020 and Mikel Landa finished fourth in both 2017 and 2020, Spain has not had a podium finish in the Tour since Alejandro Valverde finished third in 2015.

Looking at the results so far in 2022, the most likely winner was Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadier) on stage 9 in Chatel. However, it was Bob Jungels (AG2R-Citroën) who came in second in an unclassified summit finish on the French-Swiss border after he had lost his chance to win the day.

Spain's lack of success may be due in part to the small number of Spanish participants. Unlike Italy, Spain has a World Tour team, but only nine this year.

The few riders who have competed in the Tour are not sitting on their laurels. Sanchez has four wins, albeit in 2012, and Izagirre is the second Spanish rider to win in Morzine in 2016, on a rain-soaked, nerve-wracking descent. [Izagirre went into the break on stages 9, 10, and 11, and Sanchez was briefly in contention to win with a summit finish on stage 10.

But speaking to Ion Izazire himself, rather than pinpointing the cause of his zero wins since 2018, "It's the way the cards have fallen," Izazire told Cycling News at the start of stage 15. 'Maybe in another year things will change and we will win a lot.'

"It's true that we haven't won in years, and that's hard to accept," Izagirre said.

"But we can't fight for our own victories because so many riders are part of the team. And right now we don't have any top sprinters or time trial specialists. But the day will come when we will win."

Enric Mas (Movistar), currently in 10th place overall, is clearly another option for a stage win. But whereas Mas will be looking for success in the GC set-up as a breakaway specialist, including a victory in the Alps five years ago, Izagirre's option is to seize opportunities when he can.

"Megeve didn't work out. There were a lot of riders in the break, the climb wasn't hard enough, and my teammate Benjamin Thomas was there and had good legs. Basically it wasn't my day."

Izagirre, competing in his eighth Tour de France, said, "Overall, it's going well. But there are days when I think I'm doing better than I actually am, and then the peloton reminds me that I'm not."

"Yesterday [stage 14] was like that. (Tadei) Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) bounced around all over the place and tore the peloton apart.

"Maybe it wasn't the best day for me, but I felt good on the other stages. Maybe it wasn't my best day anyway. "

Of course, this is true for Spain in general. But with only six days to go before the start of the 2022 Tour, the chances of ending the four-year-long battle for the stage win are rapidly narrowing.