Pogacar wins the stage that led over the Galibier Pass

Tadej Pogacar patted his chest proudly after dealing a heavy blow to his opponent Jonas Vingegaard amidst the meter-high snow walls on the Alpine giant Col du Galibier. The two-time Tour champion took a big step towards his third overall victory with a gala performance in the duel of the giants at the 111th Tour de France. Pogacar overtook the Dane for the first time on Tuesday at an altitude of 2,642 meters and took back the yellow jersey from Olympic champion Richard Carapaz after a breathtaking descent in Valloire.

Pogacar won the fourth stage on his own with a 35-second lead over young star Remco Evenepoel, while Vingegaard lost even more seconds in fifth place and is now well behind. Thanks to the bonus seconds, Pogacar now has a lead of 45 seconds over Evenepoel and 50 seconds over Vingegaard in the overall rankings.

Roglic and Evenepoel have no chance on the mountain

On top of that, it seems clear that Vingegaard is the only rider who can challenge Pogacar for victory on the mountain. Only the Dane was able to offer some resistance to the exceptional talent’s explosive mountain sprints. Pogacar’s compatriot Primoz Roglic from the German Red Bull team had no chance on the mountain, but like the time trial world champion Evenepoel, he limited the damage thanks to a strong descent.

What a great duel it was on the first high mountain stage that led back to France! As if unleashed, Pogacar seized the initiative 823 meters from the summit, but Vingegaard made life difficult for him for a long time on the 139.6-kilometer stage from Pinerolo to Valloire. At some point, however, the resistance was broken. At the top, the Slovenian had not only gained a seven-second lead, but also a further eight bonus seconds. And on the rapid descent at 90 km/h, Pogacar continued to increase his lead.

The stage was set on the 23-kilometer-long, 5.1 percent-steep climb to the Galibier. The day before, snow clearing vehicles had cleared the pass road of snow. It had snowed on the mythical mountain, which was first included in the Tour program in 1911, just a month ago. The Galibier was not opened to public transport until June 23. What a contrast for the professional cyclists, who had to contend with temperatures of 35 degrees at the start of the Tour in Italy at the weekend!

And Pogacar’s outstanding UAE team set a hellish pace on the ramps. Well-known stars such as former Tour winners Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal and all of Vingegaard’s helpers were left behind early on.

Already on the descent from the Col de Montgenèvre, the penultimate climb, Pogacar had let his UAE armada pick up the pace, quickly creating a large gap in the peloton. Unlike Primoz Roglic, Vingegaard was not surprised by the sudden attack, and calm quickly returned.

On Wednesday, the sprinters are likely to be back in action

“The pressure is not on me,” Vingegaard said before the duel. For the 27-year-old, who suffered several broken ribs, a bruised lung and a pneumothorax at the Tour of the Basque Country in the spring, the main thing is not to let Pogacar get away. On Sunday, Vingegaard had already brilliantly parried Pogacar’s attacks in the first showdown up to San Luca.

After the exertions in the high mountains, the sprinters can once again hope for a mass finish on Wednesday on the fifth stage over 177.4 kilometers from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas. Only two easier climbs of the fourth category have to be overcome.