Pogacar Dominates the Time Trial Climb in Peyragudes and Consolidates the Lead of the Tour de France
Slovenian Tadej Pogacar demonstrated his supremacy in the Peyragudes time trial, obtaining his fourth victory in the current Tour de France and the 21st in his career. His performance allowed him to consolidate his position as leader in the general classification, surpassing the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, who finished in second place. In the nearly 11 kilometers timed in the Pyrenees, the UAE cyclist, who is seeking his fourth Tour title and the second consecutive, achieved a 36-second lead over Vingegaard. This victory gives him a considerable advantage of 4 minutes and 7 seconds in the general classification. Remco Evenepoel, who had excelled in the first time trial of the Tour, did not achieve a good time in Peyragudes, losing 2 minutes and 39 seconds to Pogacar. However, Evenepoel maintains third position overall, although he is now 7 minutes and 24 seconds behind the leader. Florian Lipowitz, from Germany, placed fourth in the stage, 1 minute and 56 seconds behind Pogacar. Lipowitz remains close to Evenepoel in the general classification, just six seconds behind third place. Primoz Roglic, Lipowitz’s teammate, took third place in the stage, but is further behind in the general classification, in seventh position, 8 minutes and 50 seconds behind Pogacar.Pogacar confessed that he raced without communication with the team, and that in the final stretch he felt he was about to “explode”. However, upon seeing the differences he was achieving over his competitors, he regained momentum. The world champion expressed his satisfaction with the result and highlighted the team’s good preparation for this stage. His strategy was to give it his all from the start. The Tour leader acknowledged that he had difficulties in the final stretch, but that the stopwatch gave him the necessary boost to maintain the pace. Pogacar explained that he chose to compete without communication in order to go to the maximum at all times, guided by the differences he observed at the checkpoints.“I almost exploded at the end, but seeing the timer gave me an extra boost”
Tadej Pogacar
