Tadej Pogačar has been compared to Eddy Merckx for the way he dominates the sport and just like the Cannibal, there were no gifts for his rivals on the first Tour de France mountain finish at La Super Planche des Belles Filles.
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) had thought he had done enough to win the stage after attacking Pogačar in the final three hundred metres and catching Leonard Kemna (Bora-Hansgrohe) in sight of the line. However, Pogačar had his own reasons for wanting to win and kicked past the Dane to snatch victory.
“Today it was a really important stage for me, too,” Pogačar explained. “My family was at the bottom, my fiancé Urska was at one kilometre to go and I had this stage in my mind for many months. As a team, we also wanted to win it.
“I also wore special new shoes in the name of a new cancer research foundation that we’re launching, so it was a big day for me, my family and my team. I wanted to win this stage and on this special day.”
There were no gifts for Vingegaard but there was respect for perhaps his biggest rival in the 2022 Tour de France.
“He’s probably the best climber in the world right now,” Pogačar said with careful consideration but careful to admit that Vingegaard has any superiority.
“He’s the man to beat. He’s a really compact rider and has a strong team around him. So far he’s riding really well. Next week will be a tough fight and perhaps suit him. It’s going to be a tough fight and the race is not over yet. I think there’ll be a lot of attacking, a lot of dropping, a lot of everything in the next two weeks.”
Pogačar has gained time on all his rivals on every terrain so far in this year’s Tour de France. But the gains have so far been seconds, not minutes. He is confident now he is in yellow and racking up stage victories but is also cautious of what is to come.
He remains hungry, as Merckx always was.
“For me, it’s been a really great seven days, with two stage wins and the yellow jersey, but this Tour is far from finished. I’ve gained a little time, which is always good, but no gap is ever enough,” he said.
“We saw today how many guys were super strong. It’s going to be tough, tough next week, with many mountains. Today was just one climb in the end of more or less 20 minutes. Next week we have big mountains.
“There still aren’t huge gaps, there’s still everything open but I’m confident we’ll do everything to defend the yellow jersey.”
Pogačar respects his rivals and they respect him but that might change in the…
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