Tadej Pogacar took the stage win and the yellow jersey in the Tour de France on Friday. The Slovenian spoke of an almost perfect day, but he regretted that he couldn’t sprint against Mathieu van der Poel again on the Mûr-de-Bretagne.
Pogacar and Van der Poel had already fought a duel for the stage win twice earlier in this Tour. In the second stage, the Dutchman won, and two days later, Pogacar was the best. Fight number three did not happen.
Van der Poel won a Tour stage on the Mûr-de-Bretagne four years ago, but on Friday he couldn’t keep up with the best on the hill in western France. Pogacar thought that was a shame, he said after his victory.
“We both wanted to win again on this iconic climb, but Mathieu had given too much yesterday, I think,” said the world champion. “That’s why we didn’t get a rematch.”
Van der Poel rode in the leading group almost all day in the sixth stage on Thursday. It earned him the yellow jersey, but his lead over Pogacar was only one second. On the Mûr-de-Bretagne, the leader of Alpecin-Deceuninck lost almost one and a half minutes to the new yellow jersey wearer.
Pogacar hopes teammate Almeida is okay
For Pogacar, it was another good day in the Tour. The 26-year-old rider has already recorded his nineteenth stage victory in the Tour de France. “I am very happy with this victory,” he said. “It was almost a perfect day. It went exactly as we had planned.”
Pogacar said “almost” because his teammate João Almeida was involved in a big crash in the final. The winner of the Tour de Suisse should become Pogacar’s most important helper in the mountain stages. Almeida finished the stage, but certainly did not emerge unscathed from the battle.
“João is having X-rays taken. I hope he is okay,” said Pogacar. “If that is the case, then it was really a perfect day for us.”
The three-time Tour winner will probably have two quieter days during the weekend. Saturday and Sunday there are flat stages, which seem made for the sprinters.