Tadej Pogacar has already won the Giro d’Italia, and he can hardly be denied victory in the Tour de France. The last time a professional cyclist achieved the double was 26 years ago.
Tadej Pogacar showed no mercy. A quick look back at Jonas Vingegaard, a brutal start – and the fifth stage win was no longer to be taken away from the dominator of the 111th Tour de France. With his triumph on the Col de la Couillole not far from his adopted home of Monaco, the Slovenian set a mark that was last achieved in the Tour by Marcel Kittel in 2017. Pogacar proudly showed a hand with five outstretched fingers as he crossed the finish line.
“You don’t slow down in cycling,” said the 26-year-old with a grin. “If someone had told me before the Tour that this would all happen, I wouldn’t have believed it. This is out of this world.” Pogacar is 5:14 minutes ahead of Vingegaard before the final time trial on Sunday. The historic double of victories at the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same year, which was last achieved by the now deceased icon Marco Pantani in 1998, is now just a formality.
Vingegaard had hoped for a little pity from Pogacar in the final meters. “I had a little hope that he would let me win. I knew that I would have no chance in the sprint because I was already at the limit,” said the Dane. He was by no means angry: “I would probably have done the same.”
Pogacar increased his total to 16 stage wins. In the long term, he wants to beat Mark Cavendish’s record, which was only set at this Tour. The Brit celebrated his 35th stage win.
However, he will have to do without the jersey of the best mountain pro, which Pogacar also held for a long time. The coveted white jersey with the red dots was secured on Saturday by the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, who came third in the stage. The Olympic champion only has to reach the finish in the time trial on Sunday.
Stage in the training area
Overall, it would be Pogacar’s third Tour victory. This puts him on a par with Greg LeMond. Record winners with five victories each are Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil and Miguel Indurain. Lance Armstrong’s seven victories were revoked due to doping.
In May, Pogacar triumphed at the Giro, finishing almost ten minutes ahead of second-placed Colombian Daniel Martinez. For a long time, there was a question mark over how the exceptional rider would cope with the strain. Pogacar answered this with performance, winning two difficult mountain finishes in the Pyrenees and one in the Alps.
After his fourth stage win the day before, Pogacar had already announced that he wanted to enjoy the climb through the Maritime Alps, which included four ascents. “This is my training area, I know every mountain very, very well,” said Pogacar. The Dane Vingegaard had also given up his last hope of overall victory and wanted to concentrate on securing second place.
No excitement like in 1989
The 33.7-kilometer final time trial is likely to be a pure triumph for Pogacar. Given his lead, he could even afford a defect. As far as anyone can tell, there will be no drama like in 1989, when the Tour last ended with an individual time trial.
At that time, LeMond went into the race against the clock in Paris 50 seconds behind the leader Laurent Fignon. The American left nothing to chance, riding with a triathlon attachment on his handlebars and a time trial helmet, while the Frenchman raced through the streets of the French capital with his blond hair flowing. In the end, LeMond was eight seconds ahead of Fignon and celebrated the narrowest Tour victory in history.
Source: Stern
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