Pogacar upbeat despite early deficit to Vingegaard: 'Good news, I have climbing legs'

Visma | Lease a Bike claimed victory on the 19km course and delivered Vingegaard into the first yellow jersey of the race, with the Dane finishing strongly on the final rise to Montjuïc. UAE Team Emirates-XRG were the last team on the road and remained in contention deep into the finale, but Pogačar and his teammates ultimately crossed the line in third place.

That result leaves Vingegaard in yellow, eight seconds ahead of Filippo Ganna and 12 seconds clear of Pogačar in the general classification. Yet the Slovenian did not leave the opening day empty handed. Pogačar was the fastest rider on the final climb to Montjuïc, a surge that earned him the first polka dot jersey of this Tour.

“It was a super good performance,” Pogačar said after the finish. “Of course, you always aim for the victory, but I think we did a really good team time trial. I’m super happy the day is over, because it’s really hard to do this kind of stage. It’s long, stressful, and you prepare for just those 20 minutes with the team.”

UAE lost Adam Yates and Nils Politt earlier than expected, but the team stayed in the fight thanks to the strength of Isaac del Toro, Brandon McNulty and Pogačar himself. Del Toro played a key role in positioning Pogačar for the decisive final metres, before the Slovenian accelerated clear inside the last 500 metres.

Although it was not enough to deny Vingegaard the stage win and yellow jersey, Pogačar’s final kick was the quickest ascent of Montjuïc on the day. It was a small but meaningful signal at the start of a three week battle, especially against a rival who has so often tested him in the high mountains.

“That’s good news. I have climbing legs,” Pogačar said with a laugh when told he had been the fastest from the bottom to the top of the climb. “But it was quite a short climb. Isaac did an amazing job. He’s such a good kid. The whole team was super good today. Everybody went over the limit, and thanks to them I have this polka dot jersey.”

Pogačar now starts stage 2 with a small but real deficit to his biggest rival. He was not ready to make bold predictions about how quickly he might try to take that time back.

“First I need to decompress from today,” he said. “There’s not much time to chill out before bedtime. Tomorrow is quite a tricky stage. I think it’s for punchers, and it’s going to be really hectic in the final. Even before the final, it can be complicated, so we need to take care and then see what we can do.”

Pogačar ends the opening day 12 seconds down on Vingegaard, with Visma in yellow and UAE forced into a small chase. The first score went to the Dane, but Montjuïc still offered Pogačar a useful note of encouragement.