by winning the first time trial, Tadej Pogacar is already knocking out the competition

The showcase of the Tour de France, fogged up since the great departure from Brest on Saturday June 26, by rain and falls, has been totally lit by seven letters of fire since Wednesday: POGACAR The report of this fifth stage is in the minutes : victory of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates), 63 kilos, in a 27.2 km time trial between Changé and Laval (Mayenne), on a rolling course where the power of Swiss Stefan Küng – second at 19 seconds – had nevertheless drawn a first attractive panorama for the French team Groupama-FDJ, of which he is one of the most brilliant elements.

But it was without counting on two thunderclaps: Tadej Pogacar, therefore, and Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix). Because, at the end of this fifth stage, “VDP” does keep his yellow jersey for eight short seconds. One might be surprised: the latter, certainly exceptional sprinter-puncher, finished 31 seconds behind a good roller – just as exceptional in ease. It is perhaps also to forget a little quickly that the Dutchman had already competed, including in Mayenne besides, of the time trial, but obviously without putting himself in the red.

For his part, the young Slovenian of 22 years, winner of the Tour in 2020, after his feat during the penultimate stage disputed at the Planche des Belles Filles (Haute-Saône), yet huddled up until then, claws in the fur sleeve, slashed the competition by rolling at an average of 51 km / h.

His compatriot, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), who lost the previous Tour on the time trial, had decided to focus a good part of his preparation on this exercise. And he had even come to recognize the two “chronos” of this 108^e edition in April, in the wake of his victory in the Tour of the Basque Country – where, moreover, he won the time trial stage by beating Pogacar (5^e) 28 seconds at the end of 14 kilometers.

But this Wednesday, Tadej Pogacar relegates his elder to 44 seconds. The leader of the Dutch team, caught in the fall of Pontivy (Morbihan) during the third stage, now accuses 1 minute 48 of disbursements overall. Roglic’s teammate at the Jumbo-Visma, the Belgian Wout van Aert, putative yellow jersey before the start of this fifth stage, he is so good at this exercise, he ranks at the foot of the podium of the day: fourth, at 30 seconds.

No feat for Alaphilippe

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