Triumph on the mountain: Pogacar counters Vingegaard from

Tour de France dominator Tadej Pogacar has secured the next stage win in the tour, his 14th in total. And in spectacular fashion

July 14, 2024

From: apa/dpa

The Slovenian won the arduous 198 km from Loudenvielle to Plateau de Beille on the French national holiday with five mountain finishes, thus securing the yellow jersey and the mountain jersey. For Pogacar, who distanced Jonas Vingegaard from Team Visma by 1:08 minutes, it was the third stage win in this year's Tour. Since Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal) came third, the podium at the second mountain finish in the Pyrenees was exactly the same as at the first on Saturday.

Around 10,5 kilometers from the finish, Vingegaard made the expected attack. Of the top group, which had been reduced to six riders, only Pogacar was able to keep up with the Dane's consistently high pace. The Slovenian made a confident impression on the defending champion's rear wheel and showed no signs of weakness. On the contrary: five and a half kilometers from the finish, Pogacar countered, and Vingegaard had nothing to counter it.

Thanks to the solo victories in Pla d'Adet and on the brutal queen stage with 4.800 meters of elevation, Pogacar is an enormous 3:09 minutes ahead of Vingegaard in the rankings. The third Tour triumph after 2020 and 2021 and the double of Giro and Tour is now within reach for the 25-year-old.

Tadej Pogacar won the first mountain finish of the 2024 Tour de France. © ANSA / GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO

After the two tough Pyrenees stages, the professional cyclists will take a break on Monday. After that, Vingegaard will have two tough Alpine stages on Friday and Saturday and the final time trial on Sunday to catch up.

Mask zones due to Corona

Since Sunday, the topic of Corona has been very present again at the Great Loop. Many teams are no longer testing for the virus, but there are still new cases almost every day. Briton Geraint Thomas stayed in the race despite being infected, while his teammate Thomas Pidcock dropped out. The Tour organization again introduced a mask requirement in certain areas.

Until the end of the tour on July 21 in Nice, masks must be worn when coming into contact with the riders. This applies to the respective bus parking area, the area behind the finish line and the two mixed zones set up for media representatives. The top riders Vingegaard and Evenepoel have been wearing masks since the start of the tour when they are in a crowd. Pogacar had survived an infection shortly before the Grand Départ.

Schlagwörter: cycling racing bike Tour de France Tadej pogacar