Tour de France: “It’s a hard blow”, Pogacar explains his less good blow

2023-07-05 22:48:53

Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Emirates) had not prepared us for this. So airy during the first stages, where he had scraped a few seconds from his main competitor, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), in the bonus game, the Slovenian could drive the point home this Wednesday during the first high mountain stage. But he finally cracked in the Col de Marie Blanque, unable to react to the violent attack of the outgoing winner.

Passed 37 seconds behind the Dane of the Jumbo-Visma at the top, the double winner of the Tour de France still lost time in the descent, finally conceding 1′04″. A serious brilliance for a start to the Tour de France, especially as Thursday’s stage promises to be even more perilous with the Col d’Aspin, the Col du Tourmalet and the finish at the top of Cauterets-Cambasque.

“He was too fast in the ascent, admitted Tadej Pogacar at the microphone of France Télévisions. I tried to hold on to the top, but he was really, really strong. What an attack! You can’t do anything when someone is stronger. “It must be said that no one could follow Jonas Vingegaard. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Daniel Martinez (Ineos-Grenadiers), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Adam Yates (UAE-Emirates) and Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos-Grenadiers) also suffered his law and arrived alongside the Slovenian.

Injured in the wrist during Liège-Bastogne-Liège last April, Tadej Pogacar experienced a truncated preparation which may explain this failure. “Training has been delayed this year, I’ve moved it, so I should feel better in the last week normally,” he said.

Still, this result is a blow and this one minute delay will not be easy to make up for. Last year, the Slovenian had never managed to let go of Jonas Vingegaard in the high mountains. And this time, he no longer has a choice. “It’s a hard blow, but it’s the first mountain stage. We will see, day by day. The objective is clear and there is motivation in the team. I hope the legs will turn better than Jonas’s in the last week,” he concluded.

In the general classification, Tadej Pogacar is therefore 1′40″ behind the leader, Jai Hindley, and 53″ from Vingegaard. Thursday’s sixth stage could prove to be the final blow, or the start of a flamboyant comeback.