Just over 200 meters away at 6,7 percent. Standing on the pedals, his cadence and gear ratio unsustainable for everyone else. Thus, Tadej Pogačar takes the stage and the yellow jersey. The friendship between Tadej Pogacar and Isaac continues in Les Angles Del Toro. The day before yesterday the Slovenian launched the Mexican towards victory, yesterday exactly the opposite happened. But what is most striking is the absolute supremacy of the two athletes of the UAE Emirates. And it's not just the way they finish their work that's impressive, but above all how they interpret the race. They take control when they want and manage it exactly as they want.
In the end, after just three stages, they have already achieved two victories and are also leading the general classification. Of course, the gaps are still minimal; in fact, Tadej and Jonas are evenly matched, and all their major rivals are there. But on both occasions, when they decided to push the pace, they conveyed the feeling of being able to make a difference at any moment. And this is probably the most powerful weapon to silence their opponents' ambitions. Everyone is waiting for them to make a move.
«We can't wait for Pogacar to get going. Until then we're suffocated by the pace imposed by the UAE. But after Tadej left, another race begins for all of us.": these are the exact words of Jordan Jegat and TotalEnergies A few days ago. Words that convey the idea very well.
Vingegaard Pride
La UAE Emirates continues to dictate the law, but the Tour de France it's far from decided. jonas vingegaard he leaves the first real mountain stage without the yellow jersey, But with the knowledge of having responded at the most crucial moment. The Dane knows that the most favorable terrain is yet to come and is not making a fuss about having surrendered the symbol of primacy.
«As I said after Montjuic, these explosive arrivals are not the ones that suit me best. At this point in the Tour we also expected to be a little further behind. Obviously I'm sorry to lose the jersey, but overall I'm also happy with how we managed a stage that was really very tough."
The captain of the Visma-Lease a Bike He then explained how the team had hoped for a different outcome. "We would have been very happy if the breakaway had fought for the stage victory today. It became clear quite early on in the stage that the UAE he wanted to aim for success. In a sprint like this it is always difficult to beat TadejIn the general classification we are now perfectly equal."
The feeling is that the challenge is only just beginning. Visma doesn't seem to have any intention of revealing itself too much in the early days. If last season the Dutch team constantly talked about the famous plan to beat Pogacar, this time they prefer to work in the shadows, without proclamations. But of course at the moment attack Tadej Pogacar and the UAE it seems more like a dream than a concrete reality.
However, sports director Marc Reef also sees the glass half full: "It was a very demanding stage, with high temperatures. A long battle for the breakaway would have been a favorable scenario for us, but the race took a different turn. Afterwards we were good at keeping Jonas in the ideal position, with Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss who did an excellent job until the final stages. Jonas then put in a really powerful sprint. We're very pleased with that."
Tadej, everything seems easy
Meanwhile, Tadej Pogacar has reclaimed the yellow jersey with almost disarming ease. He smiles, he is satisfied, but the impression is that the success achieved had a different flavour compared to the victory achieved the previous day by Isaac Del ToroIn Barcelona, the Slovenian seemed to enjoy the young Mexican's triumph almost more than his own results: he joked with the fans, let himself be swept away by the crowd's enthusiasm, and shared every moment with his teammates.
And this time too, the first thought was precisely for Del Toro. «It's all thanks to Isaac Del Toro – said Pogacar – I had a little more power in the final. He gave well over 100 percent on the last climb. But so did the whole team. Around halfway through the stage we decided to aim for victory. I'm really happy that we're starting this Tour like this. Today's finale was incredible.
The Slovenian champion then joked when asked if his hunger for victory was such that it prevented the breakaway from competing for the victory.
«Actually, no, I'm never that hungry… I just take a gel every 30 minutes!"It's also from these jokes that we've come to know Tadej. If he's having fun, it's because he's feeling good. And he's feeling good because he's having fun. Last year, it was clear that something wasn't working in the Alpine stages. Suddenly, his eyes went dull. He wasn't attacking, even though he was clearly the strongest. He was less available to the media. And then, in fact, the big knee problem emerged… which almost forced him to retire.
"The opportunity arose," Pogacar continued, "and we took advantage of it. The team was in good shape, and we won. Wearing the yellow jersey is every cyclist's dream. Every time I can have it on my shoulders, I feel special. I don't know how long I can keep it, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts."
Who rejoices and who suffers
With his victory on stage three, Tadej Pogačar has worn the yellow jersey at the Tour de France for the 55th time. Ahead of him in the all-time standings are only Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain, and Chris Froome, with the latter two still within reach. The Slovenian also achieved his 22nd stage victory at the Grande Boucle, a haul that allows him to reach a legend like André Darrigade and to bring him to fifth place overall among the most successful riders in the history of the race. Impressive numbers, which however seem to be of relatively little interest to the champion of the UAE, always more attentive to the emotions of the moment.
"Emotions definitely played a big role today," Pogacar said. "After Isaac's victory yesterday, things really opened up for us as a team. It's another step forward, a change of pace. It's great to win for such a strong team; the atmosphere is great. Your teammates want it, they're asking you to win."
Even the fact of deciding tactics on the fly, as we said at the beginning, denotes great confidence. An overwhelming power, if you will. Once the breakaway was underway and the race was stable, the Slovenian's teammates ate, breathed, and then set about first holding the breakaway within 3 minutes and then closing in.
Pogacar continued: "It was a pretty tough finish. There was a lot of fighting to stay ahead until the final two kilometers. Isaac had everything under control until the last 800 meters. He took a breath, and with 500 meters to go, he gave another powerful burst of power. At that point I took off and reached the finish line alone." Easy, right? From the way Tadej describes the end of the race, it seems like they were playing PlayStation, while everyone behind them was straining their necks.
And speaking of people who struggled yesterday and didn't have a good time, let's close by talking about Arnaud De Lie. As in Tour of Italy the Belgian stopped after very few stagesYet another ordeal for this talent who just can't find himself again.
"I had been preparing for months to be ready for this Tour. I dreamed of being able to compete in the sprint finishes," De Lie told RTBF. "Unfortunately, the gastrointestinal infection weakened me considerably. I no longer had the legs to continue. I stayed in a small group for a while, following my teammate Veistroffer, but then I told him to go, otherwise he would finish outside the time limit. It's a huge disappointment."
