'I wasn't really sick' - Pogacar downplays impact of cold at Tour

It didn’t turn out to be a GC day on stage 15 of the Tour de France, but Tadej Pogačar was vigilant all the same and he ended up a winner at the end too. UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Tim Wellens cruised to victory in Carcassonne from the break of the day, while Pogačar was happy to roll into the second rest day still armed with a 4:13 lead over Jonas Vingegaard atop the overall standings.

As ever, Visma | Lease a Bike were foremost in Pogačar’s thoughts throughout the day. Even when Vingegaard was caught behind a crash early in the stage, the yellow jersey noticed that his teammates were still endeavouring to force the pace and make it into the break.

At one point, Pogačar was seen hunting down Matteo Jorgenson in person, even though the American is over half an hour down overall. At the finish in Carcassonne, Pogačar indicated that he was wary of an ambush from Visma on the rugged terrain.

“At the start, the race was full gas for the breakaway, as we expected,” Pogačar said. “But there was also a crash. Jonas was involved, Lipowitz was involved, I don’t know who else but there were splits in the group. 

“Tim and I were in front, and we were talking to the bunch and trying to calm things down and wait for the guys in the back. This didn’t work, but what was bothering me was that there were three Visma guys and they were all trying to go in the break again. They had Jonas chasing in the back, so maybe one goes in the break and the other maybe waits for the group. I was always following the third rider. Wout [van Aert] and Victor [Campenaerts] were in the front, and you can’t let three Visma riders in the break because you never know what happens.” 

The stage eventually settled into something approaching a pattern. While Pogačar and the peloton came home six minutes down, his teammate Wellens was in the process of soloing to stage victory out in front. The Belgian champion has been a key figure in Pogačar’s guard over the past two years, and he was full value for victory on a rare day of freedom here.

“I’m incredibly happy for Tim,” Pogačar said. “This was an amazing victory, and he deserved it so much. He’s such a nice guy, he has a little bit of Belgian soul, but I really love this guy. He can be very funny, he can prank you really well, and he’s just a good teammate to have.”

Pogačar enters the third week of the Tour with a commanding overall lead and four stage wins already to his name. He had hinted at suffering from a mild cold in recent days, but he downplayed its severity when he spoke to reporters in Carcassonne after stage 15.

“I am becoming less sick now, so thanks for taking care of me,” Pogačar joked. “I think half the bunch is with sore throat, coughing, blowing the nose, but I think I’m at the end of it. We’re putting ice everywhere in the heat, and I think it’s not the best for the throat, and then there’s all the AC and the podium duties and so on. I think it resulted in my runny nose and a little bit of coughing. But I wasn’t really sick, it was just a pain in the ass.”

Pogačar’s duel with Vingegaard will resume on the slopes of Mont Ventoux on Tuesday, though he again downplayed the idea that he was seeking ‘revenge’ on a mountain where he suffered in 2021.

“The first objective is to maintain my gap,” Pogačar said. “Yesterday, Jonas showed that he’s very strong so I can expect some attacks in the high mountains. I’m going to try to defend myself and then we’ll see.”