OYONAX (AP) — Tadej Pogakar treated himself to a can of soda at the end of his one-man show, rested briefly on his racing machine and rejoiced in the incessant rain of Le-Grand-Bornand in a yellow jersey Stood down on the podium. .
The young Slovene had a good laugh after using the first stage in the Alps for an impressive display of power. “I saw everyone suffering. That’s why I attacked. I’m so happy,” Pogakar said.
poga and drives everyone away
The 22-year-old stunned all rivals in runaway Dylan Tunes’ stage win on Saturday, taking the top spot from Mathieu van der Poel and looks hard to beat on his way to a second victory in Paris. . Pogakar, who finished fourth from the 150.8 km eighth stage trio Tunes, Ion Izaguirre (Spain) and Michael Woods (Canada), did not want to know anything about the initial decision: “I have not hit the tour. There is still a long way to go.”
But who should be dangerous to Pogakar anyway? At least not Emanuel Buchman. Bookman was neither a runaway candidate nor much help to Captain Wilco Calderman. At the finish line, Ravensburger was 28:41 minutes behind the winning Tunes of the day. Thus Buchmann was still behind van der Poel, whose victory in yellow ended as expected, after six days. Among the giants of the mountain in the Alps, the grandson of Raymond Paulidor was exhausted.
Ecuador’s ex-Giro champion Richard Carapaz, considered the most dangerous opponent, was already unable to follow Pogacar up the mountain and lost more than three minutes on the new Tour leader. Pogakar is now 1:48 minutes ahead of Belgian Vout van Aert and 4:38 minutes ahead of Kazakh Alekseyj Lutsenko. But that’s not all: Pogakar’s Slovenian compatriot Primoz Rogi, who was unhappy in second place in the previous year, as well as ex-winner Geraint Thomas, again had to pay tribute to his serious fall injuries and with a major deficit. , finally buried all hope. Podium in Paris.
Pogacar already took the initiative on the final ascent, the Col de Rome. Now no one could follow him. “Everyone went against us yesterday. So I went all in to gain time. Attack is the best defense,” said the 22-year-old, who had already documented his extraordinary situation when he took the individual time trial on stage five had won.
Tunes takes stage win
The day’s victory was won by Tunes of Belgium, who was the last remaining to save the final summit a few seconds before Pogakar and then took a second Tour stage win after 2019 with a furious descent. Canadian Spaniards Ion Izaguirre and Michael Woods finished second and third with Pogacar.
The rain had hardly begun at Oyonnax, and Thomas could no longer follow the motion of the main field. Britt rode in a group of sprinters, including two-time stage winner Mark Cavendish in the green jersey. Accordingly, Thomas’ losses rapidly increased to several minutes. The Welshman fell on the third step and dislocated his shoulder.
After 25 kilometres, the next leading name of the peloton said goodbye to Primo Rogi. The Vuelta champion, badly hit by his fall injuries, had experienced a break-in the day before and lost nearly four minutes to Tour champion Pogacar.
The first mountain arrival on Sunday awaits drivers. In the ninth stage from Clus to Tignes, the last 21 kilometers are up an average of 5.6 percent. Before that, the first mountain of the highest category on the 2021 Tour is to conquer the Col du Pre.
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