Never two without three for Tadej Pogacar, the Slovenian yellow jersey having removed this Thursday, in Luz-Ardiden, his third stage victory on the Big Loop.
To Luz-Ardiden
Tadej Pogacar is not a sharer. The outgoing winner of the Tour de France, almost certain to keep his property now Sunday in Paris, offered himself Thursday in Luz-Ardiden his third stage victory of this edition to once again humiliate his rivals in the last ascent of this edition.
As the day before in Saint-Lary-Soulan, the three main protagonists of this Great Loop, the yellow jersey, the Dutchman Jonas Vingegaard and the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, this time flanked by the Spaniard Enric Mas, stood out in the three last kilometers to compete for the laurels of the day. Only Mas tried to surprise the leader of the UAE Team Emirates who, from a murderous start, joined him and left his cronies behind to win. The Slovenian even allowed himself to slow down and turn to his opponents, like a Usain Bolt, before crossing the line. “I love to play like this. I am really happy. There are three days left, but I’m confident ”, he said.
Alaphilippe and Gaudu on the attack
The French once again tried to stand out in this last and short mountain race: Julian Alaphilippe was thus one of the first to move forward, but the world champion stalled in the Tourmalet while and the groups of escapees were undone.
It was then David Gaudu who, with his 4e place the day before at the Col de Portet, tried to set off on his own, but the Breton only approached the climb to Luz-Ardiden with about ten seconds ahead of the peloton, which swallowed him 9.5 km from the line.
Bahrain Victorious raided
One of the first riders to break away after the start from Pau was the Slovenian Matej Mohoric, one of the two riders of the Bahrain Victorious formation to have won a stage on this Tour de France with the Belgian Dylan Theuns. The hotel of this team in Lescar, in the suburbs of Pau, was raided Wednesday evening by the gendarmes of the OCLAESP (Central Office for the fight against attacks on the environment and public health), acting within the framework of of a judicial investigation launched on July 3 by the Marseille prosecutor’s office for “acquisition, transport, possession, import of a prohibited substance or method for use by an athlete without medical justification».
The riders’ belongings, who were cleared to take the start, have been searched and their data entered, said officials of the team, which has recorded many successes in recent months.
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