Tadej Pogacar admits crash scare left him terrified: ‘I completely shat my pants’

The stage was run off at 50.91km/h, making it the fastest road stage in Tour history, but Pogačar revealed afterwards that he would remember the day for a near miss with a stray bidon in the peloton. 

“I think it was like 51 average speed, so not an easy one, but at least it was short,” Pogačar said after defending his yellow jersey. 

“Today was all about staying safe. I had one moment when I caught a bottle with my front wheel and I almost crashed. Yeah, I completely shat my pants there and I already saw myself on the ground, but luckily, I managed to keep the handlebars upright and it was all good in the end. 

“It’s nice to have days like this, but you need to be focused on every single part of the road.”

Twelve months ago, Pogačar was the fastest Tour winner in history when he averaged 43.4 km/h across the three weeks of the race. On Wednesday, he was in a peloton that surpassed Mario Cipollini’s 26-year-old record for the fastest road stage in Tour history.

“I felt it was fast, obviously,” Pogačar said in his post-stage press conference. “It was not a super hard stage, but when we stopped to pee, it was crazy to come back, and then you’re like, ‘Oh, actually, today we will be fast to the finish line.’ It’s good to be part of the fastest stage in the Tour.”

Asked to explain the supersonic speed, Pogačar pointed to the brevity of the stage and the tailwind, but above all, he felt the strength of the breakaway had played a part.

“It’s because there’s a big chance for the breakaway to go to the finish line and the sprint teams, they control and they need to catch them,” he said.

“Today was a strong breakaway, and that that’s why the speed has to be high because once we caught them, we slowed down immediately and it was so funny that from 5km to 2km to go, we rode the slowest we did all day. I mean, the biggest reason is also the tailwind with, but when you have such a strong breakaway in front you go faster.”

Wednesday marked the midpoint of the Tour, and Pogačar holds a more commanding lead at this juncture than he had in any of his four previous overall victories. The world champion is 3:36 clear of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) after clocking up three stage wins, including crushing solo triumphs at Gavarnie-Gèdre and Le Lioran. He acknowledged that he had never before reached the same point of the Tour at this exalted level of physical condition.

“I think honestly, yes. So far, I didn’t have any issues, any problems,” he said. “It’s in general, not just the physical shape, but also just like surroundings, how you feel off the bike, how you sleep and everything. I think this Tour is just everything so far so good. And I must say that I think the feeling is super good at halfway in the race.”