🚴♂️ Tadej Pogacar executed his plan to perfection as he struck first in the Tour de France, leaving defending champion Jonas Vingegaard almost a minute behind on Tuesday.
The 2020 and 2021 champion, who is bidding to become the first rider to achieve a Giro d'Italia/Tour de France double since Marco Pantani in 1998, made his move near the top of the Col du Galibier on the fourth stage and extended his lead in the descent to Valloire.
The Slovenian sensation claimed the stage win and donned the coveted yellow jersey as Vingegaard, who initially followed but then lost ground, struggled in the finale.
Pogacar now leads Belgium's Remco Evenepoel by 45 seconds, with Denmark's Vingegaard in third place overall, a further five seconds behind. 🙌
He benefited from the stellar work of his UAE Team Emirates squadmates during the long ascent of the Galibier, which left Vingegaard isolated.
\"It was more or less the plan and we executed it pretty well. I'm super happy. It was like a dream stage and I finished it off so well,\" Pogacar beamed. \"I wanted to hit hard today and I knew this stage very well. I've trained here a lot of times and it felt like a home stage. I was confident at the start and I had good legs.\"
He hinted he could have attacked earlier, but headwinds on the climb made him wait. \"At first there was a lot of headwind in the climb and the team did a super job protecting me,\" he explained. \"I did not want to go too early because of the wind. I knew the downhill pretty well, but I was a bit surprised to see wet road in the first corners. I'm super happy with my shape and with how I feel.\"
Despite his lead, Pogacar insists he'll take it \"day by day,\" remembering how Vingegaard bested him in last year's individual time trial. \"But we have to stay focused and see what each day brings.\" 💪
Reference(s):
Pogacar hails "dream stage" after beating Vingegaard to take Tour lead
cgtn.com
