Vingegaard pulls out Pogacar in response to all his attacks on the Tour

BarcelonaWith a week to go before the end of the Tour de France, Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar seems ready to seize any opportunity to attack the leader of the general, the Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma). Pogacar, the young champion of the last two editions and big favorite a few days ago to add a third consecutive victory, has surprised everyone by attacking when 183 km were left for the end of a fun stage but it did not seem the ideal place to do bad for Vingegaard. The Dane, who aspires to be the second cyclist in this country to arrive in Paris dressed in yellow, emulating the Bjarne Riis milestone in 1996, continues to respond with great confidence every time Pogacar attacks. The duel between the two cyclists, now that it is almost time for the arrival in the Pyrenees, seems passionate.

The fourteenth stage was won by another runner who used to cheer with his attacks: the Australian Michael Matthews, the strongest of a breakaway in which he entered Mende alone to take his fourth victory in a stage of the Tour. The BikeExchange sprinter has been the strongest of the 23 cyclists who had escaped and has managed to win the personal duel with Italian Alberto Bettiol, who he attacked on the way up to Mende airfield, aware that Matthews had more good arrival. Bettiol, however, did not succeed. Tercer ha estat el francès Thibaut Pinot, per davant del català Marc Soler, que aspirava a donar al ciclisme espanyol el primer triomf en una etapa del Tour en quatre anys. In fact, the last stage victory had been that of Omar Fraile in 2018 in Mende. Soler has tried, but in the last few kilometers he has seen how the possibility of achieving a stage victory that would have been historic for Catalan cycling, orphaned of successes in the Gallic round, escapes.

The road leading to Mende was full of traps and in fact Pogacar has attacked again in the last few kilometers. The Slovenian entered 12 minutes from the stage winner, with Vingegaard on his neck. The Slovenian attacked with 3.5 kilometers to go and the Dane was the only one who was able to keep up. Pogacar thus consolidates the second position of the general, but continues without being able to approach the first position, where Vingegaard commands with a cushion of two minutes and 22 seconds. Welshman Geraint Thomas retains third place with a 2.43 disadvantage after losing 17 seconds to Mende, ahead of Frenchman Romain Bardet, who is three minutes and three seconds behind after losing 38 seconds. The Colombian Nairo Quintana is now sixth at 4.15, while the Mallorcan Enric Mas, who has reached the Bardet group, is tenth at 10 minutes, after being overtaken by the South African Louis Meintjes, who for the second day in a row has taken the towards the good getaway of the day.

The fifteenth stage will be this Sunday between Rodez and Carcassonne, a 202.5-kilometer route that should be ideal for sprinters who have not been able to shine for many days. On Monday the race rests before a final week in which all the prominence will be played by the Pyrenees, Pogacar’s last chance to return to Vingegaard the blow he gave to the Alps and regain the lead. For now, the Dane seems unbeatable. And every time Pogacar accelerates, he ends up sticking his neck in his ear, telling him in his ear that, this time, the glory will not be his.

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