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Nice Slovenian cycling ace Tadej Pogar (UAE Team Emirates) is the winner of stage 19 in France. On the route from Embrun to Isola 2000 (144.6 km), he extended his lead in the general classification. He is now 5:03 minutes ahead of Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
The 25-year-old from Klanc pri Komenda attacked 9.5 km before the end of the final section of the Isola 2000 slope (16.1 km/7.1%), chasing the riders and then catching the last rider, Ameriano Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), less than two kilometers from the finish line.
Amelian, 25, got free on the final slope, but not before the Dutch team tried to put pressure on Pogar and his team as he and a colleague escaped. But she also topped the 19th stage with her first pre-season star.
Pogar crossed the finish line in the yellow jersey, 21 seconds ahead of Jorgensen and 40 seconds ahead of fellow breakaway rider Simon Yates of Britain (Jayco AlUla). Vingegaard and Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) finished sixth and fifth, 1 minute 42 seconds behind.
In the overall standings, this means the Slovenian ace’s advantage over the Dane has extended to 5:03, with the Belgian now 7:01 behind in third place.
For Pogar, it was his third victory at this year’s Tour de France and his 15th since he started competing in France in 2020. He has 81 wins in his career and is closing in on Slovenian record holder Primo Roglio (84).
“You could say it was the royal stage of the Tour de France. At least one of the hardest stages, but not the royal stage. We trained here for almost a month before the Tour. I told the guys how we were going to ride, where I was going to attack, and we did a lot of that, I attacked a lot where I wanted, and the win was just a bonus,” Pogar said in an interview with Slovenian TV.
He also assessed the Bonette grade (22.9 km/6.9%), which takes riders to an altitude of 2,802 m: “It was really scary. Even when we got to the top, I was looking at Adam (Yates, op. STA) and he just said, ‘What a long hill this is.’ We had a great team and we took those two hills before the last one and we performed really well, which showed that we are great as a team.”
If a year ago in the Tour de France he completely exhausted himself on the Col de Loze and lost all chances of the general championship, this time he passed the high altitude without any problems and completely defeated his closest rivals on the way to Isola 2000. At this point, he was very close to the third victory of the general seed.
“This win definitely means a lot to me because we came here before the Tour. Every day we had a 16km long climb. I had a very solid lead so I could keep going and I won’t say the next two days with my head down, but there’s no pressure, which means a lot in the last few days with my head down,” he added to Slovenian RTV.
On Saturday, there will be another demanding stage, but not as high as today. Kolesarje aka the 132.8km route from Nice to the summit of Couillole Pass (15.7km/7.1%), with an altitude of 4,600m.
“If it’s very hot tomorrow, a lot of things can happen. For me, this is the most beautiful stage on Tour. I know every hole on the way. I’m still looking forward to tomorrow, but let’s leave it for tomorrow,” announced the 25th Slovenian ace.
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