Tadej Pogacar is unstoppable. The Giro d’Italia champion finally has a firm grip on the yellow jersey with two stages remaining in the 2024 Tour de France after another solo victory on stage 19 to Isola 2000 .
Emirates Team’s Pogacar once again put on a formidable display, beating his closest rivals Visma Lease-a-Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard and Soudal Quick Step’s Remco Evenepoel on the high-altitude pass of the Mercantour Alps. This is the Slovenian’s 10th Grand Tour stage victory in 2024.
This was Pogakar’s revenge for past humiliations at the hands of Vengergaard and his team. In 2022 and 2023, the 25-year-old exacted brutal revenge after being dropped by Vengerd in the Alps, extending his lead over the defending champion to 1 minute 42 seconds and shrinking it to just over five minutes.
To rub salt into the wound, Pogacar also denied the Dane’s team-mate Matteo Jorgenson a maiden Tour stage victory, catching the American rider near the finish line.
Many thought the Slovenian was vulnerable at high altitudes, but Pogacar not only survived the thin air of Mount Labonette, the Tour’s highest peak, but he moved further ahead in the overall standings and It was once again emphasized that his advantage lies entirely in the peloton.
On the track known as the “Queen’s Stage” of the race, defending champion Vingegaard’s three climbs were all over 2,000 meters. He had exposed Pogacar’s weaknesses on the highest climb in previous years’ races. , so it’s expected to shine.
In the end, the opposite plot played out. The Danes suffered and Pogakar gained.
Vingegaard went from champion to limpet on the final climb of Isola 2000, clinging doggedly to Evenepoel’s rear wheel but unable to help after race leader Pogacar launched an attack less than 9 kilometers from the finish Chase Pogacar.
For Vengergaard, the walnut whip of the towering Cime de la Bonette, which was supposed to be the pinnacle of the Tour and promised to provide him with a platform to fight back, has become a road to nowhere. The originally expected high-altitude “death zone”, which would test Pogacar’s ability through the fierce attacks of the defending champion, did not materialize.
Four kilometers from the conical peak, the field of favorites had been reduced to 18 riders, with Pogacar, Vengergaard and Evernepour all present. The biggest surprise of the day, however, was that no attack occurred as the runners climbed into the thin air of Mount Bonnet, 2,802 meters above sea level.
Along with his two teammates Jorgensen and Wilko Keldman, in a six-man breakout, the Dane prepared for action, but nothing happened.
That advance party was sent on the road to pave the way for Vengergaard’s attack, but he failed to launch one, so his team immediately played the second card, the victory of Jorgensen’s stage. But that was also hampered by an insatiable thirst for success displayed by Slovenia’s match leader.
Even with summits and time trials to complete, the Tour de France is now won. But Pogacar has been warned by two former Grand Tour champions, one of whom was stripped of his honors for showing arrogance and the other whose public image remains intact.
Pogacar was rebuked by Lance Armstrong after the Slovenian attack on Noje Pass on Wednesday.
“This attack was really unnecessary,” Armstrong said on his podcast. “This will only draw more attention to Pogakar. It certainly doesn’t help if there are already speculations about his performance.
This view was supported by former Giro d’Italia champion Tom Dumoulin in an interview with Dutch broadcaster NOS.
“Pogakar didn’t need to do this at all. He did it just to upset Vengergaard.
“There’s definitely an element of arrogance here. The rivalry between Vengergaard and Pogacar has been going on for three years, and Pogacar can’t accept being beaten two years in a row. “Now he’s back in control and has the ability to do it again. Challenging Vengergaard, he’s thinking, ‘Now, I’ll get you back.’ ‘”
