'Pure racing' - Pogacar beats Van der Poel and Vingegaard in Tour de France thriller
Tadej Pogačar’s 100th win took him to within touching distance of the yellow jersey, but we will know who the real GC threats are after the stage five time trial on Wednesday.
Tuesday’s aggressive fourth Tour de France stage was a great watch, and it certainly brought the cream of the crop to the top of the general classification, but we will have a better idea who will be in yellow in Paris at the end of tomorrow.
Wednesday’s stage might not have the explosive drama of today’s, but the 33km time trial in Caen will see others staking their claim. At least that’s what stage winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) thinks after moving to within a hair’s breadth of the overall lead in Rouen on Tuesday.
“I think tomorrow is the big test of how good the shape is of each rider,” he told journalists in the post-race press conference. “So far, the Tour for me went super great, and for the team, so if we keep continuing riding like this and we try to enjoy it as much as possible like we did the last four days, and we see where this leaves us.”
He might have beaten Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) into second with a convincing sprint in the end, but Pogačar was on the very limits when he attacked on the final climb, the Rampe Saint-Hilaire.
Having been placed perfectly by his teammates, he attacked on the very steepest slopes, distancing all but his rival-in-chief, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). And while the Dane seemed momentarily cooked, he persisted, with the two cresting the climb together.
“I think today, I hope everybody was at the limit,” Pogačar said. “I tried an attack on the last climb, and then Jonas followed me and then everything came together, and João [Almeida] did such an amazing job to lead me out to the very end, even when people were attacking.”
"With so many good riders in such a final, you’re always a bit on the edge and nervous about what can happen. You never know until the final. Like today, you get this adrenaline. It’s pure racing and I enjoy it."
The final wasn’t quite as simple as that, though. There were attacks from Vingegaard’s teammate, Matteo Jorgenson, before Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) tried his own luck, only for Jorgenson to go again, putting everyone under pressure.
Evenepoel will go into tomorrow’s time trial as favourite and, after his demolition job at the Critérium du Dauphiné, could even take yellow.
“In my opinion, tomorrow is the perfect time trial for him,” Pogačar said of the Belgian. “He can maybe take some seconds back, no doubt he is the best time triallist in the world, and we will see."
“Tomorrow I will go full gas from the start to the finish line and see where this takes me, tomorrow the race of truth, we will see the results, but I think, Remco we cannot count him out, or anybody that is about one minute [behind] because it can turn around pretty fast.”
After winning, Pogačar will celebrate his 100th victory with his teammates, but he was also asked to reflect on his first.
“My first professional victory in Volta ao Algarve [stage 2 in 2019] was something incredible for me, I will never forget it and today, 100 victories later, it still feels super good to cross the finish line first, especially a stage like today, sprinting against Mathieu van der Poel is something amazing.”
Tadej Pogačar moved within touching distance of the Tour de France yellow jersey on Tuesday, winning a tremendously aggressive and exciting fourth stage in Rouen.
Attacking hard on the final classified climb, the brutal Rampe Saint-Hilaire, Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) dropped everyone except his chief rival, but appeared as close to his limit as we’ve ever seen over the top, a leading group of eight re-forming on the technical run to the line.
