2023-07-10 06:55:12
This time, no big slap, no uppercut, just a good pat on the shoulder. As if to say “you, I’m going to wear you out”. Pogacar emerged victorious this Sunday from the third chapter of Tadej and Jonas’ Odyssey 2023. A round that will not go down in the annals of the Tour de France despite the hopes aroused by the arrival of the day at the top of the mythical puy de Dôme, but which could well weigh in the bill on the evening of July 23.
The Slovenian wizard made the Yellow Jersey Vingegaard the blow of the last kilometer and a half. An offensive to which the Dane has never been able to respond. Both were pumped up in this raw and brutal effort. The wire stabilized for a time then the double winner of the Tour (2020-2021) received the signal in the headset that he had to insist. The leader of the Jumbo-Visma had indeed bowed down, in the first sense of the term, and turned around to see who could help him in this mess. In the end, Pogacar grabbed eight seconds from his rival in the Auvergne furnace, which brings him down to 17 small units in the general classification.
To say that this Sunday mano a mano disappointed would be a bit piss-cold. The spectacle was not as sensational as in the Pyrenees but all the same. By taking these tens of meters in advance, Pogacar has given even more consistency to this fight of titans which can only increase in power and delight a little more, day by day, our month of July.
Favorite Pogacar according to the Jumbo? The brain game continues
“We had a really fantastic first week. Today, we gain a few seconds, it’s not a lot but on this Tour, it can be very important, welcomes the manager of UAE Emirates Mauro Gianetti. The difference is small between these two champions. So any mathematical and moral difference is good to take. »
Pogacar, moral winner therefore according to Gianetti, and even favorite for the final victory, according to his Jumbo counterpart, Merijn Zeeman, “if he continues on this momentum”. Yes you are not dreaming. The Tour will be won on the pedal but also in the head, so any brainwashing is good to take. “Thank you”, replied Gianetti, all smiles.
Upon his arrival at the top, Jonas Vingegaard did not enter the game of predictions. “Pogacar was incredibly strong today and he deserved to regain his 8 seconds (…) I believe that the stages that suit me best are ahead of us. It will be a fierce fight, ”he said at the microphone of France TV.
There is still a sentence on which we are entitled to wink. On the eve of the first day of rest, in Clermont-Ferrand, is he really “happy to still have the jersey after the first week”, a situation which he admits, he did not expect at all? Feeling an elusive guy like Pogacar blow on the back of your neck is not very comfortable when you are at the top of the general classification.
Especially when the hunter in question assures us that he will no longer be caught waddling from right to left to win stages. What he had done in the past, especially during the Binche-Longwy stage in 2022, even if it meant losing rubber for the third week. “The breakaway of the day was very strong and we learned last year that we could not compete for all the stage victories”, decided the dolphin of the Tour. Relegated to eight minutes and nineteen seconds behind the indestructible Canadian Michael Woods, the winner of the day, Pogacar has probably never been so happy with such a delay at the top of a pass.
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