Tour de France
“Almost everything perfect”: Pogacar again in yellow
Tadej Pogacar cannot be stopped in Brittany. The defending champion beats his rivals in the sprint. And conquered the yellow jersey.
For Tadej Pogacar, wearing the yellow jersey at the Tour de France is practically everyday life. “Yes, back in yellow,” said the Slovenian exceptional driver routinely after his 19th tour of the tour of the 112nd edition. In Brittany, he made sure that he wears the most coveted outfit in the cycling world for the 42nd time from Saturday.
“I’m totally happy about the victory. Almost everything went perfectly,” added the world champion. By “almost” he said that his team -mate Joao Almeida had fallen in the last kilometers. “Joao fell hard, I hope he is ok.”
Pogacar brings the day victory to Sprint
On the seventh stage, Pogacar left no doubt as to who is currently doing the tone on the tour. In Brittany, the Slovenian exceptional driver rushed up the steep final ramp up to the village of Mûr-de-Bretagne, then duped the competition in the sprint and celebrated his second stage victory at this year’s tour of France.
Pogacar also ended the second two -fighter with Mathieu van der Poel. The day before, classic specialist van der Poel had backed up the yellow jersey thanks to the tiny gap of one second. But the invalid Dutchman could not oppose anything at the steep conclusion.
“I tried to stay tun. On the Belgian double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel in second place, the Slovenian is 54 seconds ahead. The Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin takes the third overall rank at a distance of 1:11 minutes.
After the hilly 197 kilometers between the coastal town of Saint-Malo and Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan, Pogacar won the daily victory in the sprint in front of his rival Jonas Vingegaard and the British Oscar onley. The German hopeful Florian Lipowitz crossed the finish line as 14.
Born in the Swabian Lipowitz, Pogacar raved about yellow wearers. “If he goes on like this, I think it will be unbeatable,” said Lipowitz. Now you have to see to what extent rival Vingegaard could ride the long mountains in the second half of the race.
Special stage for van der Poel
Compared to other large rivals on the tour, the duel between Pogacar and van der Poel is garnished with plenty of humor. After the second thriller in Normandy, when the Dutch brought back yellow with just one second, van der Poel ironically commented on a picture of defending champion Pogacar on the Instagram platform with the words: “You think there is enough for me to keep it up to Paris?”
The 30-year-old knows exactly that he will not have a chance against the three-time tour champion at the latest from the big mountain challenges. Nevertheless, he should enjoy wearing the yellow outfit all the more, because four years ago the grandson of the French cycling star Raymond Poulidor celebrated his first tour victory and the yellow jersey.
At that time at a distance of six seconds on Pogacar. Van der Poel kept the coveted leadership jersey six stages – Pogacar later celebrated his second tour victory in Paris.
Sprinter asked at the weekend
The private duel in the first racing third of the three-week tour of France has a high entertainment value. On the second stage, van der Poel won in front of Pogacar in Boulogne-sur-Mer, the Slovenian left the Dutch in Rouen.
At the weekend, the Sprinter fights for the day victory on two flat stages on Saturday and Sunday. Before the first day of rest, the cycling professionals have to cope with the demanding tenth stage on Monday with 4450 meters of altitude.
dpa
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
