The Slovenian wins the Luz Ardiden his third stage in this Tour and ties the mountain classification, in addition to the general and the youth classification. Mas recovers its best version and rises to sixth place.
There is no mercy nor trace of graceful generosity in Tadej Pogacar, for whom every day on the bicycle is a new challenge. The Slovenian runs as if each stage were the last and his rivals can only surrender time and time again to his superiority. There are already three stages in this Tour, the same ones that he achieved last year, and he has all the tickets to achieve the fourth in the time trial on Saturday. All this, together with his more than five minutes of advantage over the second classified, configures a monstrous hegemony that will transform into a new triplet in Paris, the same as in the last edition: general, mountain and youth. Only Mark Cavendish I will accompany you on Sunday on the Champs Elysées as the winner of the regularity.
Light Ardiden thus joins the map of conquests of Pogacar, despite attempts to prevent it from Jonas Vingegaard Y Richard Carapaz, who will have to settle for the podium, which is no more consolation. He also looked for his luck Enric Mas, recovered from his two bad days at Mont Ventoux and Portet, overlapping the three best men in the race until the final ramps. I even attacked them and for a moment I thought I could win, “but I saw a yellow plane coming from behind and it was impossible. I said, ‘Let’s see if it will let me …’, but I also wanted the stage and did not could be “, summarize the Balearic, who rises to sixth place. You will have to defend in the 1:11 time trial against Lutsenko to keep it.
The great victim of the passage through the Pyrenees is Rigoberto Urn, which in these two days has gone from the second to the tenth position. On this Thursday’s stage I gave up on the Tourmalet, the first of the two ascents of a short Pyrenean stage and without much history until the final kilometer. Interest in secondary rankings prevented a consistent breakaway from forming, and the lead-to-squad distance rarely reached the minute. A rarity that detracted from a day that ended up being bland.
All against Pogacar
The Ineos He tried to increase the pace on both the Tourmalet and Luz Ardiden, but failed to do any damage, except for Urn. It has been a constant in this Tour of the most powerful team in the world. Except Jonathan Castroviejo and his own Carapaz, no one can be very satisfied with his performance in a career that until not too long ago was entirely his property thanks to Chris Froome who, by the way, is going to say goodbye to the Tour without being seen. The British would do well to rethink his continuity in professional cycling, given what he has seen.
David GauduAlways combative, he led the stage on the final ascent, aware that it was a matter of time before the squad ate him up. That already happened 10 kilometers from the finish line, at the constant but not suffocating pace that they marked Kwiatkowski Y Geoghegan. So the day progressed, between yawns on the other side of the television, until Pogacar got bored. Put to Rafal Majka to pull and in three kilometers he dropped his stake. Only Carapaz, Vingegaard, Mas and Sepp Kuss they endured his change of pace.
The Jumbo he had two tricks to play with. One, that of Kiss, I was not going to intimidate Pogacar. But instead of throwing the American, he made him throw. A missed opportunity, because with what was left, and enjoying the wild card of the time trial, the second place of Vingegaard in general was no longer at risk. More apparently suffered to stay with the quartet, but with a kilometer to go decided to attack. The Balearic Islands had nothing to lose and much to gain, for whom the stage was a boost in self-esteem that he needed after his irregularity on this Tour.
Pogacar threw himself into his wheel and did not allow him joy. The one from the Movistar With 700 meters to go, with still more determination, but history repeated itself. The leader rejoined the head quartet and when there were 550 meters to go he unleashed a huge attack to which no one could respond. “For me, cycling has been a game since I started cycling. And I still enjoy it the same way,” says he, insatiable emperor of this Tour.
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