Tadej Pogacar on Saturday extended his overall lead on the Tour de France when he won stage 14 in the Pyrenees.
His arch rival Jonas Vingegaard came second at 39 seconds, while Remco Evenepoel was third at one minute, 10 seconds.
Pogacar extended his lead to one minute, 57 seconds over Vingegaard as Evenepoel dropped to third at two minutes, 22 seconds.
Photo: AFP
With bonus seconds for the win, his 13th Tour de France stage victory, Pogacar extended his lead by 43 seconds. He punched the air in triumph at the line.
“The plan was to come to the final and make the sprint hard, maybe take some seconds and a stage win, but in the end this it’s much better,” he said at the line.
“I’m super, super happy to get this,” he added.
Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates waited until the third and final climb of the day before sending Adam Yates on an attack 7km from the line on the 11km ascent to the Pla d’Adet.
“It’s so noisy on the climb we had to scream at each other, I was telling him to attack,” Pogacar said. Yates said he had been shocked by the instructions.
“I thought maybe he could go for the win, but it didn’t quite work,” Pogacar said.
The English rider was waiting to help after Pogacar unleashed his own ferocious acceleration. The Slovenian’s two podium rivals had followed, but were either unwilling or unable to match the pace.
Over the final section of a climb, packed on either side by raucous fans, 2020 and 2021 champion Pogacar kept up his pace all the way to the line after dropping Yates.
“I’m much better than last year, handling pressure and emotions,” Pogacar said. “I’m getting more and more comfortable. I have to enjoy this while it lasts.”
Wearing a mask in the mixed zone, Evenepoel seemed relaxed and happy too.
“I tried to keep up as long as possible, but he’s wild,” the Belgian said.
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