Tadej Pogacar wins a fifth stage on Tour de France as victory nears
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UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogacar wearing the yellow jersey celebrates after winning stage 20 of the Tour de France.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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COL DE LA COUILLOLE, France - Tadej Pogacar inched closer to securing his third Tour de France title after outwitting his main rival, defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, to win the penultimate stage on July 20.
The Slovenian claimed his fifth stage win of the 2024 edition by outsprinting Vingegaard in the final metres of the 132.8km mountain trek from Nice after the Dane had run out of steam while looking to cement his second place overall in the last stretch.
There was no mercy from UAE Team Emirates rider Pogacar, who stayed in Vingegaard’s slipstream towards the end, and put the hammer down 250m from the line.
Overall, Pogacar, who won the Tour in 2020 and 2021 before being toppled by Vingegaard in the last two editions, leads the Dane by 5min 14sec with Belgian Remco Evenepoel in third place, a further 2:50 behind.
Pogacar said after the race: “I enjoyed it very much. It didn’t go as we planned. I couldn’t be happier. Just one more day. I was really surprised how the race exploded on one of my favourite climbs. We tried to take it easy.
“If you told me this before the Tour I wouldn’t have believed it. I am so happy, and I hope to share victory with my teammates. (Vingegaard) had some tough days and he showed he is not going to crack. He was super strong. (Five’s) more than enough.
“Let’s see if I have good legs. I can enjoy the crowds a bit more tomorrow.”
It was a cruel end to the stage for Vingegaard, who had been looking to gain time over Evenepoel, whose earlier attack in the Col de la Couillole backfired.
The Tour ends on July 21 with an individual time trial between Monaco and Nice – the first time in the 121-year history of the race that it will not end in Paris due to the upcoming Olympics, which start on July 26 in the French capital.
Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz, who featured in the day’s breakaway and took third place in the stage with another bold ride, made sure he would take home the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification, while Biniam Girmay of Eritrea secured the green jersey for the points classification.
Evenepoel attacked 8km from the finish, but it was too brief an effort for the Belgian to have a hope of leapfrogging the defending champion in the general classification.
Vingegaard later countered and only Pogacar could follow, leaving Evenepoel glued to the tarmac.
Pogacar was content to stay on Vingegaard’s wheel, and finished him off with some brutal acceleration, leaving his fierce rival to cross the line with his head down. AFP, REUTERS
