CAUTERETS – Very clever who can predict the winner of this 110 conteste Tour de France after another memorable battle between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard in the 6the Stage where the two champions share the honor at the finish.
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In the fog and with a few streaks of snow on the horizon, Pogacar and his immaculate white jersey single-handedly won this second great Pyrenees stage. Behind him, just 24 seconds away, however, Vingegaard claimed the yellow jersey.
The 2022 Tour winner therefore secures the precious tunic by a margin of 25 seconds, while Jai Hindley completes the provisional podium by 1:34. The Aussie leader limited the damage with a sixth place finish at the top.
Jonas Vingegaard AFP
Immediate reply
Had the Dane surprised his opponent the day before with his ease in landing his opponent, the immediate response came from Pogacar, who did the same to him with an irresistible attack that the other couldn’t respond to in the final three kilometers. Doubts about the condition of the Slovenian, who, despite his wrist injury in the spring, won another stage at the age of only 24, were quickly dispelled.
“It’s my 10th stage win… watch out Mark Cavendish, I’m on my way to you! It is certain that if the same thing had happened, I would have started telling myself that I just needed to go home. But in the end it went very well and that gives me hope for the rest of the Tour,” said Pogacar, who bowed his head instead of puffing out his chest at the photo finish.
To continue the fight, Vingegaard will always be able to take advantage of the colossal work of Wout van Aert and the phenomenal American climber Sepp Kuss, former winner of Mont Mégantic in 2016, on the Jumbo.
Tadej Pogacar AFP
Everyone in turn
“Tadej was really strong, he deserved his stage win. It’s no surprise to me that he’s bouncing back. He’s capable of that and that can make the Tour very exciting,” Vingegaard said in return.
Dressed in blue, Adrien, a very old Frenchman who was struggling to get up in Cauterets, summarized the boxing rounds between the two belligerents.
“Everyone has their turn. They are as strong as the others,” he said with a very pronounced accent, while the loudspeakers of the Bistro du Boulevard spat out the Compagnie créole masked ball. “Cycling is much better than soccer. It’s a lot harder,” added the proud supporter.
A big cleaning
The Tour’s two big favorites cleaned up the peloton by climbing the Col du Tourmalet before settling for another thrilling sporting duel on the Cambasque Plateau. Pogacar had the knife between his teeth but Vingegaard managed as the confrontation had only just begun. Unfortunately, the other competitors only have crumbs to eat.
The last to make it was former Polish world champion Michal Kwiatkowski. The renegade was doomed, crushed by two human missiles that refused to negotiate.
The scoring of the 6th stage
Tarbes-Cauterets-Cambasque- 144.9 km
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAD) 3:54:27
2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/TJV) at 24s
3. Tobias Johannessen (NOR/UXT) 1:22 seconds
4. Ruben Guerreiro (POR/MOV) 2:06 minutes
5. James Shaw (GBR/EFE) 2:15 minutes
The general classification
1. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/TJV) 26h 10m 44s
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO / UAD) with 25 seconds
3. Jai Hindley (AUS/BOH) 1:34 minutes
4. Simon Yates (GBR/JAY) 3:14 minutes
5. Carlos Rodriguez (ESP/IGD) 3:30 minutes
Yellow jersey: Jonas Vingegaard
Green jersey: Jasper Philipsen
Polka Dot Jersey Neilson Powless
White jersey: Tadej Pogacar