Pogacar shatters Col du Tourmalet record with astonishing attack

Conditions added another layer to an already explosive performance. The exposed upper slopes of the Tourmalet were raced in warm, unsettled weather, with a light to moderate easterly to south easterly wind offering more of a cross tailwind than a block headwind on most parts of ascent from Sainte Marie de Campan.

The Col du Tourmalet is one of the Tour de France’s defining climbs, and the times posted over the past decade show how quickly the ascent has changed. 

Rafał Majka climbed it in 48:36 in 2018, before David Gaudu lowered the benchmark to 47:35 in 2021. Two years later, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar pushed the climb into a different era, recording 45:11 as their duel split the race apart.

With UAE Team Emirates-XRG setting a brutal tempo from Sainte Marie de Campan, the GC group was quickly stripped down. One by one, Tim Wellens, Felix Großschartner, Brandon McNulty and Adam Yates played their part, each turn reducing the group further before Isaac Del Toro took over deep into the climb.

With just under 5km remaining to the summit, Del Toro delivered Pogačar to the point of attack. The Slovenian launched immediately, and the response behind him was instant silence. No one could follow.

Vingegaard tried to claw his way back over the remaining kilometres and at one point came to within six seconds, but the effort proved impossible to sustain. By the time Pogačar reached the Souvenir Jacques Goddet at the top of the Tourmalet, the gap had opened again, with Vingegaard conceding 30 seconds at the summit.

For Pogačar, the clock finally stopped at 43:12 on the Souvenir Jacques Goddet summit, sealing a new reference time on one of the Tour de France’s most historic climbs.