Tadej Pogacar wins Tour de France Stage 12, takes yellow jersey

Hautacam – Tadej Pogacar reclaimed the leader’s yellow jersey at the Tour de France with an imperious Stage 12 triumph on the Hautacam mountain in the Pyrenees on July 17.

Pogacar skipped away on a 12.5km solo ascent of the fabled climb to finish 2min 10sec ahead of key rival Jonas Vingegaard, while overnight leader Ben Healy wilted to a 13min deficit on the day.

French President Emmanuel Macron was on hand at the mountaintop finish to congratulate the Slovenian UAE Team Emirates rider.

Said Pogacar: “I knew first time I rode Hautacam, for recon, it’s a super nice climb. Then it came in 2022. I was trying with my head through the wall to get back the yellow jersey, but Visma were too strong back then.

“I forgot about this, I was just looking forward to today, but then all the people were saying (before this stage): ‘It is revenge time, blah blah blah’.”

Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel dug deep after being dropped on the first of three climbs to claw back level, before eventually losing 3min 35sec on the day’s 180.6km ride from Auch, finishing seventh.

In the overall standings, Pogacar now leads by 3min 31sec over Denmark’s Vingegaard while Evenepoel is third, a daunting 4min 45sec adrift.

Worse for any pretenders hoping to stop the defending champion is that Stage 13 on July 18 comes in the shape of an uphill individual time trial that the Slovenian said this week he was looking forward to.

Overnight leader Healy took a beating on his second day defending the yellow jersey as the Irish cyclist slipped off the pace on the first climb, while doggedly trying to limit his losses.

He is now 11th, over 13 minutes behind Pogacar.

Meanwhile, Norwegian cyclist Tobias Johannessen said he was “terrified” by the online abuse he received after admitting fault over Pogacar’s crash near the end of Stage 11 on July 16.

Pogacar hit the tarmac late in the 156.8km stage around Toulouse after striking the rear wheel of Johannessen.

“You don’t know how the body reacts after the crash,” said Pogacar after Stage 12 on July 17. “It was not too bad. I feel my hip but only when I do acrobatics. But here I am just riding the bike. I sweat a bit more, but maybe it’s good.”

Johannessen quickly apologised for the incident but expressed his horror at the “very scary” messages of hatred directed his way.

“I am terribly sorry for what happened to (Pogacar),” Johannessen wrote on X.

“I was trying to follow a move and I can see that I was too close. I thought everyone would move to the right, but I made a mistake and would like to say sorry again. I hope he is as good as he can be after a crash like that.

“I would of course like to do it again and do it differently, but I can’t.

“But I would not wish anyone the amount of threats I get in my inbox. I am terribly sorry but also terrified of the hate from all the people. This feels very scary.”

Frenchman Bryan Coquard came in for similar treatment after he was involved in the crash that knocked Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen out of the race on Stage 3.

Philipsen, who won the opening stage in Lille, was forced to withdraw after suffering a broken collarbone and two fractured ribs, but said he did not blame Coquard. AFP