Tour de France: “Comfortable lead”: Triumphant Pogacar close to the double

While Tadej Pogacar celebrated the possible preliminary decision of the Tour de France with raised arms, Jonas Vingegaard was still struggling up the last bends to the Plateau de Beille with a pale face. With a double triumph in the Pyrenees, Pogacar handed the defending champion two crushing defeats and the desired double of Giro and Tour is more reality than fantasy ahead of the final week.

Thanks to his solo victories in Pla d’Adet and on the brutal queen stage with 4800 meters of elevation, Pogacar is an enormous 3:09 minutes ahead of Vingegaard in the rankings. “I couldn’t have imagined this result after two weeks,” said Pogacar, who also looked exhausted. “I was a little at the limit when Jonas attacked, but then I noticed that he didn’t have the legs to pull it off. It looks very good, it’s a comfortable lead.”

Vingegaard’s Visma team is not giving up, but is realistic about the performance. “At the moment it looks as if Pogacar is the strongest rider. We have to accept that,” said sports director Grischa Niermann. “The Tour doesn’t end until Nice. If he’s still stronger next week, then we’ll accept that too.” After his serious fall in April, Vingegaard had only been able to complete six weeks of preparation for the Tour.

Pogacar like Pantani once was

Around 10.5 kilometers from the finish, Vingegaard made the expected attack. Of the top group, which had been reduced to six riders, only Pogacar was able to keep up with the Dane’s consistently high pace. The Slovenian made a confident impression on the defending champion’s rear wheel and showed no signs of weakness. Quite the opposite. Five and a half kilometers from the finish, Pogacar countered, and Vingegaard had nothing to counter it.

The plateau, which is almost 1,800 meters high and has a climb of 15.8 kilometers with an average gradient of almost eight percent, was the first destination of a Tour stage in 1998. The eventual overall winner, Marco Pantani, won at the time and was the last professional to achieve the double of victories in the Giro and the Tour. Pogacar, who won the Tour of Italy in May, wants to emulate the cycling icon this year. After two thirds of the race, his chances are excellent.

Pogacar wants Cavendish record

On Saturday, Pogacar had already clearly distanced himself from Vingegaard and celebrated his 13th stage win. He then revealed his long-term dream of becoming the Tour’s record stage winner one day. Sprint superstar Mark Cavendish only set the record of 35 victories in this edition.

“When I saw Mark Cavendish winning all those stages, I thought he was from another planet. That’s unattainable. But if you chase your dreams, you can catch them,” said Pogacar. If he wins an average of just over three stages over the next seven years, he will become the new record holder.

Comeback of the mask requirement

Since Sunday, the topic of Corona has been very present again at the Great Loop. Many teams are no longer testing for the virus, but there are still new cases almost every day. Briton Geraint Thomas stayed in the race despite being infected, while his teammate Thomas Pidcock dropped out. The Tour organization again introduced a mask requirement in certain areas.

Until the end of the tour on July 21 in Nice, masks must be worn when coming into contact with the riders. This applies to the respective bus parking area, the area behind the finish line and the two mixed zones set up for media representatives. The top riders Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel have been wearing masks since the start of the tour when they are in a crowd. Pogacar had survived an infection shortly before the Grand Départ.