Pogacar is also in a class of his own in the mountain time trial

Cycling superstar Tadej Pogacar also won the difficult mountain time trial in the Pyrenees, thus completing his 21st stage victory at the Tour de France.

July 18, 2025

From: dpa

The 26-year-old defending champion from Slovenia once again left his rivals no chance on the 13th stage up to the small airfield in Peyragudes. German high-flyer Florian Lipowitz delivered another strong performance, finishing fourth. The 24-year-old from Swabia finished 1:56 minutes faster than Pogacar, moving significantly closer to the podium.

The world champion won the 10,9-kilometer battle against the clock ahead of his long-time Danish rival Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic of Slovenia. It's Pogacar's fourth stage win in this Tour. On Thursday, he had already clearly won the climb up to Hautacam and reclaimed the yellow jersey.

Stage 14 also promises spectacle

In the overall standings, Pogacar now leads Vingegaard by 4:07 minutes and Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel of Belgium by 7:24 minutes. Tour debutant Lipowitz remains fourth in the overall standings, but is only six seconds behind Evenepoel.

Jonas Vingegaard overtook Remco Evenepoel, but still lost a lot of time. © APA/afp / LOIC VENANCE

The third and final high-altitude stage in the Pyrenees is scheduled for Saturday. The 14th stage of the day promises another spectacular challenge. The riders must conquer 4.950 meters of elevation gain over a distance of 182,6 kilometers between Pau and the mountain finish in the Luchon-Superbagnères ski resort – it is the toughest challenge of the Tour de France to date. After 36 years, the finish line returns to the Tour program. On this stage, the pros will also have to climb the legendary Col du Tourmalet.

Keywords cycling racing bike Tour de France Tadej pogacar