Tadej Pogacar took a major step towards his fourth overall victory in the Tour de France on Thursday. The Slovenian rode away from Jonas Vingegaard in the final of the queen stage and gained a few seconds. Ben O’Connor soloed to the stage win.
The 26-year-old Pogacar jumped away from Vingegaard in the final kilometer. The yellow jersey wearer created a gap and crossed the finish line nine seconds earlier than the leader of Visma Lease-a-Bike.
Pogacar finished almost two minutes behind O’Connor in second place. The Australian, who was part of an early breakaway group, crowned a 15-kilometer solo with the stage win. O’Connor achieved his second stage win in the Tour. He won for the first time in 2021.
In the general classification, Pogacar now has almost 4.5 minutes lead over Vingegaard. Florian Lipowitz is third at more than 11 minutes, but has a 22-second lead over Oscar Onley. Lipowitz had to drop out of the favorites group on the final climb.
Friday is the last mountain stage on the program. Then the finish is at La Plagne. A hilly stage and the traditional final stage to the Champs-Élysées in Paris will follow during the weekend.
Arensman and Roglic in early flight
The queen stage took the peloton over 171.5 kilometers from Vif to Courchevel. The riders faced three climbs of the highest category: the Col du Glandon, the Col de la Madeleine and the Col de la Loze.
On the Col du Glandon, a leading group formed with, among others, Thymen Arensman, Primoz Roglic, Felix Gall and Matteo Jorgenson. They took a three-minute lead.
The difference quickly narrowed after an attack by Vingegaard on the Col de la Madeleine. Pogacar was not in trouble, while one after another fugitive was collected by the favorites group. Only O’Connor, Einer Rubio and Jorgenson held their own at the front.
Vingegaard cannot make things difficult for Pogacar
Leading up to the Col de la Loze, the 26-kilometer final climb with an average gradient of 6.5 percent, Lipowitz rode away from the favorites group. The German took a minute and a half lead, but was caught again on the final climb and had to drop out of the favorites group a little later.
At the front, O’Connor jumped away from Rubio 15 kilometers from the finish, while Jorgenson had dropped. The Australian rode further and further away from the Colombian and soloed to the most beautiful victory of his career.
In the favorites group it took a long time until something happened. Vingegaard only attacked in the final phase, but Pogacar stood firm without any problems. The Slovenian rode away from Vingegaard in the final kilometer and thus further extended his lead over the Dane in the standings.