Pogacar 'grateful for an easier day' after devastating Tourmalet exhibition
And on the seventh day, he rested. After placing a heavy down payment on Tour de France victory on the Tourmalet on Thursday, Tadej Pogacar enjoyed an afternoon of relative calm in the peloton on stage 7 to Bordeaux.
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The stage was always earmarked for the sprinters, and it duly produced a bunch finish, with Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) emerging from the maelstrom to claim victory. Pogačar rolled home safely in the peloton to retain the yellow jersey with a lead of 2:42 over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) and 3:27 over UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Isaac del Toro.
“Even if it was easier day, it was still important to keep the temperature of the body down and be careful of any tricky situations in the towns and just be careful,” said Pogačar. “We did a really good job, and it was a good day.”
Speaking to Daniel Benson on Friday, four-time Tour winner Chris Froome felt that Pogačar had all but won the Tour with his onslaught in the Pyrenees, and he suggested that the biggest threat to his yellow jersey from here to Paris would be the risk of crashes rather than the attacks of his rivals.
“With the team that he has, there’s not much risk of any dropping him when it’s man-against-man going up a climb,” Froome said. “It’s more a risk of crashing. That’s the biggest thing, or illness.”
Pogačar stayed safe in the peloton on the road to Bordeaux, though he politely rebutted the idea that it had been akin to a rest day, given that the stage was run off at more than 46kph amid soaring temperatures.
“It was a bit of a transition day. You couldn’t really call it a ‘rest day’ because we were still on the bike,” Pogačar told France Télévisions. “But it was important to cool down properly and not let our body temperature get too high… It was really, really hot. We were boiling towards the end.”
Pogačar acknowledged, however, that the afternoon had been considerably less taxing than Thursday’s leg through the Pyrenees, where he won at Gavarnie-Gèdre after a 43km solo raid over the Tourmalet.
“I think if you ask anyone in the bunch, they suffered a bit after yesterday, also me,” Pogačar said. “We were all grateful for an easier day today.”
Saturday’s 180km run from Périgueux to Bergerac looks set to produce another afternoon of détente among the overall contenders.
“I hope to have a similar stage tomorrow,” Pogačar said. “You never know – anything could happen. But I hope it will be similar to today.”
Result: Tour de France stage 7
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