Tadej Pogacar all but secured his fourth Tour de France victory on Thursday. And that on the climb where he had his worst day on a bike two years ago. “To be honest: I would have liked to win the stage today.”
The words were immediately iconic. “I’m gone, I’m dead,” Pogacar shouted into the radio to his team during the climb of the Col de la Loze in the 2023 Tour. It was a unique moment. The best cyclist in the world was completely broken and lost more than five minutes to his rival Jonas Vingegaard.
On Thursday, Pogacar took revenge for that slump. The Tour peloton went over the Col de la Loze again – albeit from the other side – and now the Slovenian gained nine seconds on Vingegaard. “I banished a ghost from the past today,” Pogacar said at his press conference after the eighteenth stage. “I was a bit afraid of this stage, but it has become a wonderful day.”
Visma-Lease a Bike had big plans for the queen stage. Vingegaard launched his first attack 72 kilometers from the finish, on the Col de la Madeleine. But even tactical tricks have no influence on Pogacar in this Tour. The yellow jersey wearer followed without problems and now has a lead of 4 minutes and 26 seconds over Vingegaard in the standings.
“We had everything under control today,” said Pogacar. “I didn’t have too much stress because my legs were good. And luckily this side of the Col de la Loze is a lot less difficult than the side we did in 2023. I’m super proud of how we rode as a team today. And super happy that I still have the yellow jersey.”
Pogacar had plan to go for stage win
The only blemish on the grueling day in the Alps was that Pogacar did not get a chance for his fifth stage victory of this Tour. That would have completed the revenge on the Col de la Loze, but after the Madeleine, Vingegaard and Visma decided not to ride at the front anymore. As a result, the escapees stayed ahead and the Australian Ben O’Connor won.
“To be very honest: I wanted to win the stage today,” said Pogacar. “But when Visma accelerated on the Madeleine, our plan fell apart. On the Col de la Loze, my teammates started riding at the front and I still hoped that we would catch back the leading group. But Ben was too strong, congratulations to him.”
The chance is very high that the congratulations for the overall victory will go to Pogacar again in Paris in three days. Friday is another tough mountain stage in the Alps, but it seems impossible for Vingegaard to win 4.5 minutes on the yellow jersey wearer then.
“The Tour is not over yet,” said Pogacar. “I still have to do my best for three days. After that I can go on vacation and think about other fun things in my life. But first tomorrow’s stage. I’m sure Visma will do everything they can to attack me again.”