Tadej Pogacar raced clear of rival Jonas Vingegaard to take a solo win on stage six of the Tour de France on Thursday as Jai Hindley’s spell in the yellow jersey proved to be short-lived.
On Wednesday, Pogacar appeared to be suffering the effects of his long injury lay-off as he lost significant time to Vingegaard while Hindley was racing into yellow, but it all changed on the second stage in the Pyrenees as Pogacar flipped the script once again.
After sticking to Vingegaard’s attack on the mighty Tourmalet, the two-time Tour winner exploded away from his rival with 2.7km (1.6 miles) of the final climb up to Cauterets-Cambasque remaining, winning the 145km (90 miles) stage from Tarbes by 24 seconds.
Vingegaard’s consolation prize was taking the yellow jersey, with the widely expected two-horse race between these two riders already emerging. Vingegaard leads overall by 25 seconds from Pogacar, with Hindley 94 seconds down in third.
Simon Yates is up to fourth, a little over three minutes down, with his brother Adam in sixth and fellow Briton Tom Pidcock into the top 10.
Hindley eventually came home a little over two and a half minutes after Pogacar, with the Australian needing to return to his original target of a podium finish in this Tour after enjoying a day in yellow.
Wout van Aert leads the breakaway up the Col du Tourmalet— (EPA)
Vingegaard took on the stage with a clear plan to claim the jersey from Hindley and also to again put pressure on Pogacar, who looked vulnerable on the climb of the Marie Blanque on Wednesday.
The Dane attacked close to the top of the Tourmalet, still with more than 50km (31 miles) of the stage to go, quickly distancing Hindley but keeping Pogacar glued to his wheel.
The Slovenian, usually so expressive on the bike, kept his poker face on as he appeared to just be clinging on, but as the gradients ramped on the final climb he sprang forward inside the last three kilometres for a statement win.
“I would not say it’s revenge but it feels sweet to win and to take some time back,” Pogacar said. “I feel a little bit relieved, I feel much better now.
“The display Jonas showed yesterday was incredible and I was thinking when they started to pull on the Tourmalet, I thought, ‘S***, if it’s going to happen like yesterday we can pack our bags and go home’, but luckily I had good legs today and I could follow on the Tourmalet.
“I felt quite comfortable and when I felt it was the right moment in the end I attacked and it was a big relief… I would say now it’s almost the perfect gap and it’s going to be a big battle until the last stage I think.”
