A feat of victory, yet another. A blow to the opponents, yet again. The first Pyrenean stage of the Tour, with the first real climbs, has delivered an important verdict: Tadej Pogacar is the master of the Tour.
Perfect race management by the world champion, and a UAE team that proved to be much stronger than Visma Lease a Bike, which tried to set the pace uphill but then saw Simon Yates, Jorgenson, and Kuss drop one after another.
Pogacar, on the other hand, had a great Wellens, who got into the day's breakaway - with 52 men attacking in a stage that started very fast - and then was crucial in the valley leading to the Hautacam climb. Adam Yates was also good, improving his form, and Narvaez was excellent, whose acceleration in the first part of Hautacam broke the group and put even Vingegaard in difficulty.
On the momentum, Pogacar flew away alone, increasing his advantage over his great rival and the group composed of Onley, Lipowitz, Roglic, and Johannesen, with the latter two then dropping back.
The world champion, who obviously returns to the yellow jersey, inflicted more than two minutes of time gap on Vingegaard, with third place going to the excellent Florian Lipowitz. Then Johannessen and Onley at 3 minutes. Today's climb was extremely tough, the first Pyrenean stage of this Tour de France with a finish at Hautacam; a climb that in 2022 had seen Pogacar lose ground to his rival Vingegaard.
A difficult day for Remco Evenepoel, who dropped back already on the Col de Soulor, then returned with great skill and head, and defended himself with his usual intelligence on Hautacam: 3'35" was his deficit.
Tomorrow, a 10.9 km time trial is scheduled from Loudenvielle to Peyragudes.
in update
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FINISH ORDER
1. #1 Pogacar T. (UAD)
2. #11 Vingegaard J. (TVL) +2'10
3. #72 Lipowitz F. (RBH) +2'23
4. #221 Johannessen T. (UXM) +3'00
5. #191 Onley O. (TPP) +3'00
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. #1 Pogacar T. (UAD)
2. #11 Vingegaard J. (TVL) +3'31
3. #21 Evenepoel R. (SOQ) +4'45
4. #72 Lipowitz F. (RBH) +5'34
5. #131 Vauquelin K. (ARK) +5'40
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