Tadej Pogacar klopfte sich stolz auf die Brust, nachdem er inmitten der meterhohen Schneewände auf dem Alpenriesen Col du Galibier seinem Widersacher Jonas Vingegaard einen schweren Schlag versetzt hatte. Der zweimalige Tour-Champion hat mit einer Gala-Vorstellung im Duell der Giganten bei der 111. Tour de France einen großen Schritt auf dem Weg zu seinem dritten Gesamtsieg gemacht.
Pogacar hängte den Dänen am Dienstag in 2642 Metern Höhe erstmals ab und holte sich nach einer atemberaubenden Abfahrt in Valloire das Gelbe Trikot von Olympiasieger Richard Carapaz (Ecuador).
Pogacar holte sich auf der vierten Etappe im Alleingang mit 35 Sekunden Vorsprung auf Jungstar Remco Evenepoel den Tagessieg, Vingegaard verlor als Fünfter sogar noch weitere Sekunden und liegt damit erst einmal deutlich im Hintertreffen. Aufgrund der Bonussekunden hat Pogacar im Gesamtklassement nun sogar einen Vorsprung von 45 Sekunden auf Evenepoel und 50 Sekunden auf Vingegaard.
“I’m super happy, that was the plan and we executed it well. It was a dream stage for me. I wanted to hit hard today, I trained a lot for that,” said the 25-year-old.
And it all seems clear: In the mountains, Vingegaard seems to be the only rider who can challenge Pogacar for victory. Only the Dane was able to cope with the explosive mountain sprints of the exceptional mountain sprinter. His compatriot Primoz Roglic from the German team Red Bull had no chance in the mountains, but, like the world time trial champion Evenepoel, kept the damage limited due to a steep descent.
What a duel on the first high mountain stage back to France. Pogacar took the lead 823 metres from the summit, but Vingegaard made life difficult for him on the 139.6-kilometre stage between Pinerolo and Valloire.
Contrast program for professionals.
But at some point the resistance was broken. When he reached the top, the Slovenian not only had a seven-second lead, but also earned another eight-second bonus. And on the rapid descent at 90 km/h, Pogacar continued to increase his lead.
The stage was set for the climb to the Galibier, which is 23 kilometres long and has an average gradient of 5.1 percent. The day before, snow ploughs had cleared the road. Only a month ago, it was snowing on the legendary mountain, which was first included in the tourist programme in 1911.
The Galibier did not open to public transport until June 23. What a contrast for the professional cyclists, who had to endure temperatures of 35 degrees at the start of the tour in Italy this weekend.
And Pogacar's excellent UAE team set an incredible pace on the slopes. Well-known stars such as former Tour winners Geraint Thomas (Great Britain) and Egan Bernal (Colombia) or all of Vingegaard's assistants were left behind from the start.
Already on the descent of the Col de Montgenèvre, the penultimate climb, Pogacar had let his UAE armada advance at full speed, which quickly created a large gap in the peloton. Unlike Primoz Roglic, Vingegaard was not surprised by the sudden attack and calm quickly returned.
“The pressure is not on me,” Vingegaard had already said before the duel. For the 27-year-old, who suffered several broken ribs, a bruised lung and a pneumothorax during the Tour of the Basque Country in spring, the main priority is not to let Pogacar get away. On Sunday, Vingegaard had already brilliantly repelled Pogacar’s attacks in the first encounter in San Luca.
In the first Alpine stage, a breakaway group of 17 people dominated the race. Among them was Cologne time trial champion Nils Politt of the Pogacar team. However, this was only because he was still able to help his captain after the first two mountain classifications of the day.
After the efforts in the high mountains, on Wednesday (from 1:20 p.m. in FAZ live ticker for the Tour de France (on sportschau.de and Eurosport) On the fifth stage, 177.4 kilometres long between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Saint-Vulbas, the sprinters are once again hoping for a mass finish. Only two easier climbs in the fourth category can be overcome.