On the second big day in the Pyrenees, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar showed why they are the co-favourites to win the Tour de France, using the Tourmalet and a summit finish to put their rivals in the rearview mirror. After losing a minute to his rival on Wednesday, Pogačar dropped Vingegaard on the final climb, took his 10th career Tour stage win, and brought back 28 seconds. Vingegaard pulled on the yellow jersey from Jai Hindley, and leads the race 25 seconds ahead of Pogačar. Michael Woods had a tough day and tumbled out of the top-20.
The Course
There were four categorized climbs on Thursday’s menu, but only two really had any consequence. The mighty Tourmalet, one of the most storied climbs of the Tour de France, was the 110th edition’s second HC-rated mountain. At 17 km of 7.4 percent, it was this year’s Souvenir Jacques Goddet. After a very long descent, the riders tackled the summit finish of Cauterets-Cambrasque, 16.2 km at 5.3 percent, with a steeper top.
Take a look at this tough stage in the Pyrenees.#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/leCLGRWa1O
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) July 6, 2023
Another big breakaway formed before the first categorized climb. This platoon contained Wout Van Aert, his pal Mathieu van der Poel, Julian Alaphilippe and Neilson Powless, the latter clearly on board to get his KOM jersey back from Felix Gall. Powless crept closer by being first over Cat. 3 Côte de Capvern-les-Bains. The 20-strong group started up Cat. 1 Col d’Aspin with a 3:00 lead. While Van Aert turned the screws in the breakaway, Jumbo-Visma took over the pace-making in the peloton. Powless snagged the maximum KOM points to yank back his polka dots.
Tourmalet
By the foot of the Tourmalet, the break’s advantage was 4:30. Alaphilippe tried a dig early on the slopes but he didn’t get far. Van der Poel fell away, but he certainly wasn’t alone. Jumbo-Visma chipped away at the gap. Unfortunately, Michael Woods was ejected from the peloton.
Powless fell back from the breakaway just as Jumbo-Visma attacked. Wilco Kelderman, Sepp Kuss, Vingegaard, Pogačar and yellow jersey Hindley were in the move, but the yellow jersey was the first to fade. Then it was the same trio as Wednesday’s: Kuss, Vingegaard and Pogačar. It closed in on the small Van Aert group. With 1.8 km to climb Vingegaard attacked and the Slovenian went along.
Tobias Halland Johannessen of Uno-X took the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…