Ben O’Connor wins in Tignes, but Tadej Pogacar dominates

by time news

TignesTadej Pogacar plays with the competition at will in the Tour de France, Emanuel Buchmann only has the stage hunt and Primoz Roglic is already on his way home. The completely rainy weekend in the Alps pushed almost the entire peloton to the limit. Only defending champion Pogacar raced into the yellow jersey with a breathtaking solo show, then even took a stroll on Sunday and looked simply untouchable before the first day of rest.

Buchmann is over half an hour behind

“I didn’t kill the tour, there is still a long way to go,” Pogacar said dutifully on the record. Presumably he had to hold back a grin. The Slovenian left the day’s victory in Le Grand-Bornand to Belgian Dylan Teuns, while Ben O’Connor won the mountain finish in Tignes, but Pogacar has long been ahead in the overall standings. On paper, the 2:01 minute lead over second-placed O’Connor may look small, but the Australian, with Pogacar’s grace, made up just under six minutes in his solo victory and is more likely to be on the podium by chance. Buchmann is more than half an hour behind and will certainly be given some freedom by the Pogacar team in the Pyrenees.

Although Pogacar switched to management mode on Sunday on the way to the Tignes ski resort, which is 2107 meters high, and only countered attacks. But the day before, the previous year’s winner had completely demoralized the hopeless competition in the pouring rain. A good 30 kilometers before the finish line, Pogacar started on the penultimate mountain, so on “a bad day” Buchmann hadn’t been in the favorites group for a long time. Since the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz was initially able to follow, the young star accelerated the pace again as if it were the easiest in the world. “He’s on a different level than everyone else,” admitted Sir Dave Brailsford, head of the successful British Ineos team. The shocked competition will have to set new goals. The Bora-hansgrohe team hopes to continue on the podium with Wilco Kelderman, Buchmann wants to win a stage.

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