Tadej Pogacar has virtually secured his fourth Tour de France victory on Thursday. And that on the climb where he experienced 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 over 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 collapse. 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 have 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 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,” Pogacar said. “I didn’t have too much stress because my legs were good. And fortunately, this side of the Col de la Loze is a lot less difficult than the side we did in 2023. I am super proud of how we rode as a team today. And I am super happy that I still have the yellow jersey.”
Pogacar had plan om voor ritzege te gaan
The only blemish on the grueling day in the Alps was that Pogacar didn’t 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 honest, I wanted to win the stage today,” Pogacar said. “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 the leading group. But Ben was too strong, congratulations to him.”
The chance is very high that the congratulations for the final victory in Paris in three days will go to Pogacar again. 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,” Pogacar said. “I still have to do my best for three days. After that, I can go on vacation and start thinking about other fun things in my life. But first the stage of tomorrow. I am sure that Visma will do everything they can to attack me one more time.”