Pogacar rides solo to stage 15 win, extends Tour lead
Slovenian finish one minute ahead of closest rival
14 July 2024 - 19:06
byVincent Daheron
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogacar celebrates on the podium wearing the polka-dot jersey after winning stage 15. Picture: Stephane Mahe
Plateau De Beille, France — Tour de France leader Tadej Pogacar highlighted his climbing credentials in the Pyrenees when he rode solo to victory in Sunday’s 15th stage, a picturesque 198km ride from Loudenvielle to Plateau De Beille.
Slovenian Pogacar dropped Jonas Vingegaard on the final climb, finishing 1min 8sec ahead of the Dane, his closest rival, to win his third stage on this year’s Tour year and his second in a row.
Vingegaard attacked with just over 10km left, with Pogacar sticking to his wheel as the pair surged ahead of the leading group to set up what promised to be an enthralling duel to the finish line.
With 5.3km to go, however, Vingegaard knew he had run out of gas and looked forlornly over his shoulder at Pogacar and the Slovenian immediately made his move, overtaking the Visma–Lease a Bike rider before disappearing into the distance.
“I would never imagine this kind of outcome after the second week. I’m super happy with my shape. Today was super hot and it was a really hard day. I always struggle with the heat and the team did a super good job with cooling me down,” Pogacar said.
“When we came to the bottom of the last climb I was at the limit a little when Jonas tried to drop me, but I could see that he was starting to suffer a bit. When he tried to drop me the last time, I could see that he doesn’t have the legs to go to the top, so I tried on my own.”
As Pogacar crossed the line with no other rider in sight, he held his arms aloft after extending his overall lead over Vingegaard to 3min 9sec.
Remco Evenepoel, who is third in the general classification, finished nearly 3min behind the Slovenian, and the Soudal-QuickStep rider is now over 5min behind Pogacar in the overall standings.
Such was Pogacar's dominance that only 36 riders had crossed the finish line half an hour after the Team UAE Emirates rider had completed the stage.
Monday is a rest day and the Tour continues on Tuesday with stage 16, a 189km flat ride from Gruissan to Nimes.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Pogacar rides solo to stage 15 win, extends Tour lead
Slovenian finish one minute ahead of closest rival
Plateau De Beille, France — Tour de France leader Tadej Pogacar highlighted his climbing credentials in the Pyrenees when he rode solo to victory in Sunday’s 15th stage, a picturesque 198km ride from Loudenvielle to Plateau De Beille.
Slovenian Pogacar dropped Jonas Vingegaard on the final climb, finishing 1min 8sec ahead of the Dane, his closest rival, to win his third stage on this year’s Tour year and his second in a row.
Vingegaard attacked with just over 10km left, with Pogacar sticking to his wheel as the pair surged ahead of the leading group to set up what promised to be an enthralling duel to the finish line.
With 5.3km to go, however, Vingegaard knew he had run out of gas and looked forlornly over his shoulder at Pogacar and the Slovenian immediately made his move, overtaking the Visma–Lease a Bike rider before disappearing into the distance.
“I would never imagine this kind of outcome after the second week. I’m super happy with my shape. Today was super hot and it was a really hard day. I always struggle with the heat and the team did a super good job with cooling me down,” Pogacar said.
“When we came to the bottom of the last climb I was at the limit a little when Jonas tried to drop me, but I could see that he was starting to suffer a bit. When he tried to drop me the last time, I could see that he doesn’t have the legs to go to the top, so I tried on my own.”
As Pogacar crossed the line with no other rider in sight, he held his arms aloft after extending his overall lead over Vingegaard to 3min 9sec.
Remco Evenepoel, who is third in the general classification, finished nearly 3min behind the Slovenian, and the Soudal-QuickStep rider is now over 5min behind Pogacar in the overall standings.
Such was Pogacar's dominance that only 36 riders had crossed the finish line half an hour after the Team UAE Emirates rider had completed the stage.
Monday is a rest day and the Tour continues on Tuesday with stage 16, a 189km flat ride from Gruissan to Nimes.
Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.