Tour de France: Pogacar dominates competition in Pyrenees – Lipowitz third

Rad world champion Tadej Pogacar rushed up to Hautacam. With one of his explosive attacks on the steep climb, the Slovenian duped the complete competition and played his muscles in the Pyrenees in front of the eyes of French President Emmanuel Macron

During the 112nd Tour de France, the defending champion defied the fall the day before and demonstrated his superiority. The 26-year-old conquered the yellow jersey from Irish Ben Healy and duped the chanceless competition for Rival Jonas Vingegaard. Macron also saw how the German hopeful Florian Lipowitz came to the finish line as the third place behind the superstars and thus left various stars behind.

“I am totally happy that I could make up time and won this increase,” said Pogacar. He didn’t know how his body reacted to the fall. He only felt his hip a bit.

Pogacar detached himself from the group of favorites about twelve kilometers before the finish, attacked his Danish opponent Vingegaard quickly. As unleashed, Pogacar stormed towards the goal and celebrated his 20th tour stage victory with a distance of 2:10 minutes.

Lipowitz holds out well with

German Lipowitz was one of the winners of the day. In the question of captain between him and veteran Primoz Roglic, he gave a clear statement, left the experienced colleagues with more than 90 seconds and became the day of the day. The young star climbed from eighth to fourth place in the overall ranking – 5:34 minutes behind Pogacar.

“I took my chance and attacked again and then to the destination full throttle,” said Lipowitz of the ARD. “After driving the majority from the front, I thought I would try an attack,” he added.

In the overall ranking, the three-time tour winner Pogacar is now 3:31 minutes ahead of Vingegaard. The Belgian Remco Evenepoel occupies the third overall rank 4:45 minutes behind the yellow carrier. Double Olympic champion Evenepoel, co-favorite on the podium, fell back to the Col du Soulor on the first climb and lost his second place overall. Now Lipowitz is his biggest pursuer.

Film -ready duel three years ago

Almost three years ago, Pogacar and Vingegaard had already delivered a spectacular duel on the ascent to Hautacam. At that time, Vingegaard even waited for Pogacar after a fall. The Dane later shook off the exhausted Slovenia and paved the way for his first tour victory.

Pogacar has so far had a good grip on Vingegaard and distanced his adversary by more than a minute – especially due to the break -in of the Danes in the first individual time trial. However, this also played in the cards when Pogacar’s most important mountain helper Joao Almeida from Portugal had got out after a fall due to injury.

Pogacar in luck after falling

Superstar Pogacar also fell on Wednesday, but the 26-year-old got away lightly. In the evening, his UAE racing stable announced that the Slovenian had not suffered any concussion or breaks in the unfortunate fall. Bruises and abrasions on the left forearm belonged to the damage balance after the shock moment just under four kilometers before the finish.

The incident could have had bad consequences for the three-time tour champion. At Pogacar, only a bandage on the arm was recognizable at the start. “I’m okay, not too bad. My whole left arm is open, but only turned off skin,” he said.

Deadly misfortune overshadow stage

Pogacar also reacted to the tragic death of the 19-year-old youth cyclist Samuele Privitera on the edge of the stage. The young man fell to a bike race in Italy on Wednesday and later died in the hospital. “It is very sad to lose another young talent,” said Pogacar. The tour also took part in tragic death. Before the stage, the drivers and the spectators were also asked to applaud for one minute in honor of Privitera.

The second exam in the Pyrenees is on Friday. The demanding mountain time trial over 10.9 kilometers from Loudenvielle up to the airfield near Peyragudes is likely to demand a lot from the top drivers. In particular, the final increase with an average of 7.9 percent climb at a distance of 8 kilometers has a tough. The airfield once served as a backdrop for the James Bond film “The tomorrow never dies” with Pierce Brosnan.