Tadej Pogacar Drops Vingegaard on Col du Tourmalet, Wins Stage in Pyrenees

Pogacar blows Tour de France apart on Tourmalet to extend lead

A solo attack 43km from the finish saw Pogacar take his 23rd Tour stage win and extend his overall lead after dropping all his rivals on the Tourmalet.

Pogacar claims 23rd Tour stage win after smashing rivals on Tourmalet...

Tadej Pogacar put one hand on the Tour de France title with a dominant attack on the Col du Tourmalet, dropping Jonas Vingegaard, Paul Seixas, Remco Evenepoel and all his other rivals before stretching his advantage further on the climb to Montée de Gavarnie-Gèdre.

 Pogacar’s closest challenger was Vingegaard, who came in 2:40 later. Del Toro claimed third in the bunch sprint, just ahead of Evenepoel, both finishing 2:57 back.

Riding for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Pogacar stamped his dominance on the stage. He attacked on the Col du Tourmalet with 43km to go and built a commanding gap over Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike by the finish. It was his 23rd career Tour stage win, and his second of this year’s race.

Pogacar led Vingegaard by 30 seconds over the top of the Tourmalet, then stretched the gap on the descent and again on the final climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre. At the same time, former yellow jersey Torstein Træen of Uno-X Mobility crashed on the Tourmalet descent, ending his run in the race lead.

Evenepoel, Lipowitz of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Seixas of Decathlon CMA CGM were all in the chase group with Del Toro, finishing 2:57 back on the stage winner.

“It’s truly a fantastic victory. It’s one of the best. Definitely. When we got back to the bus after yesterday’s stage, we were already fired up and talking about today’s stage. Then I woke up at 7:00 a.m., and thoughts were racing through my head because I was so excited. All my teammates were really ready, so I knew it was going to be a good day.”

“We rode as if we had nothing to lose. If we blew up, we blew up. But in the end, it worked out, and I’m super proud of everyone. The team was incredible today,” said Pogacar in the official winner's interview.

Vingegaard was very disappointed with his own performance on Thursday and said: “It was a really tough day. Obviously, it wasn't the day I had hoped for, but that’s how it goes sometimes. They launched a major attack on the Tourmalet, and I couldn't keep up. I had to settle into my own rhythm. It wasn't too far to the summit, but the descent didn't really suit me,” he said.