[ad_1]
The battle between the four favourites of the Tour de France got underway on Wednesday in a series of mountain stages in the central Cantal region, with Jonas Vingegaard defeating overall winner Tadej Pogacar.
Defending champion Vengergaard was crushed by a fierce attack from Slovenian runner Pogačar and eventually rushed to the finish line with an extremely ferocious sprint.
Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel finished third at 25 seconds, while Pogačar’s compatriot Primoz Roglic finished fourth at 55 seconds despite a late-race accident.
Tournament officials later ruled that Roglic and Evenepoel had the same score.
In the overall standings of the yellow jersey, Pogačar leads Evenpool by 1 minute and 6 seconds, with Vengergaard in third place at 1 minute and 14 seconds and Roglic in fourth place at 2 minutes and 15 seconds.
Pogačar, 25, usually runs faster than Vengergaard, but bravely gave his rival a hand at the end of the 211km ride.
Wengergaard, 27, cried after getting off his bike, the slight rider proving he overcame a life-threatening injury at the Tour of the Basque Country in March.
“I called my wife, who was a big help in my comeback. I was really touched by this win,” Vengergaard said.
“Just a few months ago, my loved ones were worried that I would die.
“I never thought I’d get back to this level. I had a lot of doubts about myself,” he added.
Although the stage win went to Vengergaard, his strategy may have also earned him a moral victory in the battle between the two two-time Tour de France champions.
– The promise of the Pyrenees –
However, Pogačar refused to accept that, with two mountain stages ahead in southern France this weekend.
“Well, he won the sprint, I won the first climb and he caught me on the second climb. I was leading in the standings, so no,” he said.
“Let’s see what happens on the bigger peaks of the Pyrenees.
“I’m really confident,” he added.
The war of attrition between Vingegaard of the Visma-Lease a Bike team and his challengers reached a climax during the climb to the remote ski station of Le Lioran, at 1,242 metres above sea level.
Surprisingly, however, the top four positions remained unchanged.
“We can now confirm that Jonas is in great form. He beat me,” Pogačar said.
“I feel good,” he added.
This was Vengergaard’s first stage win in this year’s Tour de France and also proved that he has overcome the injury he suffered earlier in the year.
For Pogačar, several daring attempts to distance himself from his rivals in tests west of Clermont failed, so it was back to the drawing board.
Pogacar, the 2020 and 2021 champion, led Vingegaard by 30 seconds on the penultimate climb and left Evenepoel behind before rebounding.
Pogačar was unable to maintain his ferocious pace and looked back in horror to see Vengergaard on his rear wheel again.
Vengergaard followed Pogačar for much of the 2023 Tour de France before overtaking him on stages 16 and 17 in the Alps to win by 7 minutes and 29 seconds.
However, Pogačar did win the King of the Mountain points jersey.
Frenchman Romain Bardet, who grew up in the area, was greeted by a crowd of enthusiastic supporters at what is known as the “Virage Bardet” (Bardet Corner), where thousands of locals and supporters saw him off for his final Tour de France.
He finished second in the 2016 Tour de France and took the same place at the World Championships two years later.
“It’s a beautiful day, I didn’t expect it to be so hot,” Bardet told French television.
“The atmosphere was great and I tried my best to stay ahead but it didn’t work,” added the 33-year-old.
[ad_2]
Source link
