Tadej Pogacar doesn’t give discounts to anyone, indeed, and when he can, he strikes the blow. And so he did in the first Pyrenean stage of the 2024 Tour de France, where he inflicted a heavy blow to the hopes of his main rivals for the final victory, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, going on to win all alone at the top of the Pla d’Adet. The Slovenian is determined to complete the feat of Giro-Tour double that no one has achieved since 1998 and faces the final week of the Grande Boucle with a lead of 1’57” on the Dane, winner of the last two editions, and 2’22” on the Belgian, while all the others are more than six minutes behind. Among them is the Italian Giulio Ciccone, today an excellent fifth almost on Evenepoel’s wheel, and eighth in the general classification nine minutes behind the leader. Fireworks were expected in a stage that in the second half of the 152 kilometers total proposed the trio of climbs Tourmalet-Hourquette d’Ancizan-Pla d’Adet and the race does not disappoint expectations.
After having managed the forces in the first, mythical climb and in the second, less impervious one, Pogacar makes the most of UAE Emirates’ firepower to whip his rivals in the final five kilometers. With a smart move, the Slovenian launches Adam Yates to snuff out the hopes of Irishman Ben Healy, the last survivor of a handful of escapees, then launches himself into the attack alone, leaving his rivals behind and immediately gaining seconds after seconds. Once he reaches Yates and Healey, Pogacar continues to push, increasingly widening his advantage over Vingegaard until he crosses the finish line with a cry of anger, a sign of his determination.
“The plan was to get to the final climb and sprint hard to gain a few seconds and get the bonus points for the stage win. But in the end it’s much better this way,” he said at the finish line. I’m super, super happy with the result obtained”. His 13th stage win at the Tour, the second in this edition, makes it clear to everyone that his dominance will be difficult to undermine. But in the grand tours, as long as there are mountains there is hope and tomorrow will be a July 14 that is anything but a celebration for the group, given that the 15th stage includes the arrival at the Plateau de Beille, after having overcome almost 5,000 meters of altitude difference, with four first category climbs and one out of category. For the 158 remaining riders of the 178 who started – today the Italian Alberto Bettiol and the British Tom Pidcock withdrew, the latter with symptoms of covid – unless there are new defections before tomorrow, it is expected to be a passionate Sunday, while the hopes of victory for a Frenchman on the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille are faint. The last one to do so was Barguil in 2017 and tomorrow Bardet will try, who would like to seal his last Tour before retiring. It is difficult, however, that he will be able to enter the new chapter of the challenge between Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel.