Thursday 15th July 2021
Third win, crazy tour dominance
Only one more miracle can stop Pogacar
The last mountain stage of the Tour de France has been mastered. The winner of the day is the same as the day before – Dominator Tadej Pogacar drives superbly. After his third triumph, the title defense can no longer be taken from him. Aside from sport, a doping raid is causing a stir.
On the last stage of the Pyrenees, which was overshadowed by a doping raid, defending champion Tadej Pogacar paved the way for another tour triumph with his next masterpiece. The only 22-year-old cycling prodigy celebrated his third success of the day and acted just as explosively in the last climbing showdown over the infamous Col du Tourmalet to Luz Ardiden as on Wednesday when he won the queen’s stage.
The captain of the UAE Emirates team increased his (already) huge lead by six seconds to 5:45 minutes in front of French President Emmanuel Macron. Only a miracle in the time trial on Saturday or a fall could keep Pogacar from another triumph on Sunday on the Champs-Elysees. The wearer of the yellow jersey and the new wearer of the mountain jersey still looks inviolable.
“It’s crazy that it worked again. I felt good and I am totally happy,” said Pogacar at Eurosport: “I got the maximum out of it. Why should I be afraid of the time trial now?”
Raid overshadows the stage
Last week, Pogacar had already dominated and sometimes even duped his competition in the rain battle in the Alps and on Mont Ventoux. Pogacar’s pursuers, the young Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (Ineos), who easily left Pogacar in the final sprint at the summit of Col du Portet on Wednesday, should at least take their place on the podium on Sunday Have Paris for sure.
A police raid had caused a moderate earthquake before the stage. The French authorities had already searched the hotel of the strongest tour team Bahrain Victorious in Pau on Wednesday evening on suspicion of doping. This was announced by the Marseille public prosecutor on Thursday.
A preliminary investigation into the possible “acquisition, transport, possession and importation of a prohibited substance or method for use by an athlete without medical justification,” said a statement from the public prosecutor’s office. The proceedings will continue to investigate the background.
Loose counterattack shortly before the target
Pogacar then provided the sporting highlight on the 129.7 kilometers “short” but again extremely demanding last section of the Pyrenees. First local hero David Gaudu was swallowed in the climb to Luz Ardiden, then Pogacar shocked the competition again. 3.3 kilometers before the summit, the Dominator got out of the saddle for the first time and increased the pace massively. He countered the attack of the Spaniard Enric Mas 500 meters from the finish line and sprinted away his other competitors Vingegaard and Carapaz in the manner of a really big one.
After the tough stages in the Pyrenees, Mark Cavendish’s sprinters will return to Paris for the last time on Friday.
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