CYCLING – Tadej Pogacar produced a climbing masterclass as he stormed to a stunning solo victory on yesterday’s stage 19 of the Tour de France in the Alps, a 145km ride from Embrun to Isola 2000.
Pogacar’s explosive attack to win the stage moved him one step closer to the title as the yellow jersey holder crushed his closest rivals and extended his lead over Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel.
Pogacar’s lead over second-placed Vingegaard is now over five minutes while Evenepoel is more than seven minutes behind with two stages left.
After six riders broke away, it was Matteo Jorgenson who made the first move to surge ahead, but with 10km left, Richard Carapaz looked to catch up to the American with Simon Yates not too far behind.
Pogacar had been following three minutes back and he launched his attack less than 9km from the finish, leaving Vingegaard and Evenepoel behind.
As Vingegaard and Evenepoel battled it out for second place in the overall standings, Pogacar was on a mission to catch up to Jorgensen as he pedalled furiously and passed Olympic champion Carapaz with 3.5km left and Yates 500 metres later.
Jorgenson had done well to hold on to his advantage for as long as he could but he could only watch on as Pogacar passed him with ease, erasing the three-minute gap within the last few kilometres of the stage.
Pogacar eventually crossed the line all by himself, first raising his fists before taking a bow with his arms outstretched and then showing four fingers – the number of stages he has won this year.
Jorgenson finished second with his head bowed, wondering what might have been if not for Pogacar, while Yates was third.
Vingegaard and Evenepoel crossed the line together, bumping fists, with the former inconsolable knowing his chances of winning the Tour had all but slipped away.
l Team Bahrain Victorious’ Santiago Buitrago was the team’s best-ranked rider in 14th overall. He finished over four minutes behind stage winner Pogacar.
With this result, Buitrago dropped out of the top 10 on the general classification, moving down one spot to 11th. The Colombian also fell to fourth on the ranking for the race’s best young rider.
Jorgenson moved ahead of him by 13 seconds, while Evenepoel continued to top the standings.
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