Tadej Pogacar was surprised on Thursday during the sixth stage of the Tour de France by Visma-Lease a Bike. The team of Jonas Vingegaard went full throttle at the beginning and end of the stage, making it a chaotic day.
It was a special moment for a transition stage in the Tour. After a little less than 60 kilometers, Matteo Jorgenson attacked, after which the shadow leader of Visma-Lease a Bike was called to order by Pogacar himself.
Jorgenson’s action was indicative of the first part of the sixth stage. On the hilly course, it was full throttle from the start. The riders of Visma-Lease a Bike were particularly active. Wout van Aert, Simon Yates, Tiesj Benoot and Victor Campenaerts also made attack attempts.
Pogacar watched it all with increasing surprise. “Visma tried… I don’t really know what they were trying at the beginning of the stage,” the Slovenian said after the stage to the international media. “They went all out. The first two hours were very difficult as a result. But we as a team just followed and survived it well.”
To the Slovenian press, Pogacar was even more firm in his judgment. “Visma has a backlog on us in the standings. But what they did today made no sense. Maybe they lost their way a bit yesterday after the time trial.”
Van der Poel Takes Yellow by One Second
Pogacar started the day in the yellow leader’s jersey. After the lightning-fast opening phase, a leading group of eight riders emerged, including Mathieu van der Poel. UAE Team Emirates, Pogacar’s team, then ensured control in the peloton. “We had the choice to go for the stage win,” said the leader. “But we decided not to waste extra energy.”
Thus, the lead of the escapees increased to more than four minutes. Van der Poel was 1 minute and 28 seconds behind Pogacar in the standings and was therefore virtually comfortably in the yellow jersey.
In the final kilometers, Van der Poel’s margin on the peloton suddenly disappeared quickly. The Dutchman was exhausted, while Visma-Lease a Bike once again increased the tempo in the group with favorites. Ultimately, Van der Poel took the yellow, but he is only one second ahead of Pogacar.
“Maybe Visma had information in the final that Van der Poel was having a hard time and they wanted to make sure I would keep the yellow jersey,” Pogacar said. As leader in the standings, the three-time Tour winner had spent about an hour and a half extra on (media) obligations after the stage.
“I don’t care if I have the yellow jersey,” said Pogacar. “But in the end, Mathieu had one second left. Hats off to him. He drove great, just like all the escapees. All credits to them. Our goal for today was to waste as little energy as possible. And we did that very well.”