Slovenian reigns at the highest finish of this Tour to retain the Jersey Yellow.
On the queen stage of this Tour de France178.4 km from Muret to the top of Col du Portet at 2,200 meters altitude, Tadej Pogačar again showed his class, taking his second stage victory in the 2021 edition of the Grande Boucle.
The race saw the men in the general classification control the opening stages, with UAE Team Emirates protecting and escorting the Jersey Amarillo up the slopes of the Col du Porteta climb of 16.3 km with peaks of 10% slope.
Halfway up the last climb, Pogačar attacked, and only Vingegaard (Team Jumbo-Visma) and Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) were able to follow..
With 2 km to go, Carapaz launched a decisive attack, but could not shake off Pogačar.
In the final meters, the trio reunited and Pogačar launched the final sprint that allowed him to win not only the stage, but also valuable seconds over his rivals in the general classification.
Tadej Pogačar: "Today the team did a great job, controlling the breakaways as always and allowing me to arrive as rested as possible to the last climbs. In the last 8 km I tried to attack several times, but Vingegaard and Carapaz pushed me hard and made me work for this win. With Vingegaard we understood that Carapaz would try to surprise us, so I was careful and then I was ready to launch the final sprint in the last 50 meters."
Tomorrow is scheduled for the final mountain stage. "Only" 130km with the climbs to the Col du Tourmalet (17.1km at 7.3%) and the finish in Luz Ardiden (13.3km at 7.4%).
PhotosBettiniPhoto / Fizza Photo
