Uncompassionate Tour-Dominator shows no mercy
Few Metres from the Goal, He Gets off the Saddle and Drops Title Defender Jonas Vingegaard: Tadej Pogacar Wins the Penultimate Stage of the 111th Tour de France and Stands Shortly Before His Third Overall Win.
In his living room in the hinterland of Monaco, Dominator Tadej Pogacar was once again invincible and stood on the brink of overall victory at the Tour de France. With this, the Slovenian would achieve the historic double of wins at the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year, which the late icon Marco Pantani had managed in 1998.
Near his hometown Monaco, Pogacar showed no mercy and secured the win on the penultimate stage to Col de la Couillole ahead of his main rival Jonas Vingegaard. The 25-year-old celebrated his fifth stage win at the Tour, increasing his tally to 16 victories. In the general classification, he leads by over five minutes.
Richard Carapaz, the Ecuadorian, will take the jersey of the best climber, which Pogacar had held for a long time. The Olympic champion needs only to reach the finish line on Sunday in the time trial.
Etape in the Training Ground
Overall, this would be Pogacar's third Tour victory. He would then be on par with Greg LeMond. Records with five victories each are held by Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, and Miguel Indurain. Lance Armstrong's seven victories were revoked due to doping.
In May, Pogacar triumphed at the Giro, leading by almost ten minutes over the second-placed Colombian Daniel Martinez. A question mark hung over how the exceptional rider would cope with the workload. Pogacar answered with performance, winning two gruelling mountain stages in the Pyrenees and one in the Alps.
After his fourth stage win the previous day, Pogacar had already announced that he wanted to enjoy the mountainous stages through the Alps, which were rich in climbs. "This is my training ground, I know every mountain very, very well", said Pogacar. Vingegaard, the Dane, had also buried his last hope of overall victory and focused on securing second place.
No Tension like 1989
The 33.7-kilometre long final time trial had to become a pure triumphal procession for Pogacar. Even a puncture could be afforded in the light of his lead. A drama like 1989, when the Tour ended with a solo time trial in Paris, was unlikely according to human judgment.
Back then, LeMond had gone into the 50-second deficit against the leader Laurent Fignon in the time trial in Paris. The American left nothing to chance, rode with a triathlon setup on the handlebars and a time trial helmet, while the Frenchman chased with waving blonde hair through the streets of the French capital. At the end, LeMond finished eight seconds ahead of Fignon and celebrated the narrowest Tour victory in history.
In the history of cycling, Tadej Pogacar could join an elite group of racers who have won both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year, following his victory in the Tour de France. Despite Jonas Vingegaard's efforts to defend his title during the Tour de France's penultimate stage, it was Pogacar who clinched the stage win and moved closer to securing his third overall victory in the Tour de France.
