Pogacar rides to solo win on Tour de France stage 14 to increase overall lead
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ODEREN, France, July 18 : Four-time champion Tadej Pogacar launched the decisive attack on the steepest section of the Col du Haag climb to clinch another solo victory on Saturday’s 14th stage of the Tour de France, increasing his overall lead in the hunt for his third straight title.
His fourth stage win of this year’s race leaves him four minutes and 30 seconds ahead of second-placed Jonas Vingegaard, who finished fourth on the day behind Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Isaac del Toro and local hero Paul Seixas.
“A really perfect day, we marked this stage since the beginning. I know it very well, it is beautiful and an incredible place for cycling,” said Pogacar.
Saturday’s stage, a 155.3km ride from Mulhouse to Le Markstein Fellering, tested riders with mountains throughout the route, including three category one climbs, and spots where the competitors ran into rain.
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The crowd at Grand Ballon, the first major climb of the day, cheered on Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) as he beat Richard Carapaz to the peak, while the peloton trailed by nearly two minutes.
Four others joined Paret-Peintre and Carapaz in a breakaway group as the riders carefully navigated slippery and wet roads amid heavy rain during the descent from Col du Page.
Carapaz and his EF Education–EasyPost teammate Ben Healy took a wrong turn at the start of the ascent to Ballon d’Alsace, but managed to rejoin the leaders, as the peloton tried to make up a three-minute gap.
POGACAR LAUNCHES PERFECTLY TIMED ATTACK
Paret-Peintre and Carapaz were again the first two to reach the summit at Ballon d’Alsace, but by the time they started the ascent to Col du Haag, the peloton, being driven by Pogacar’s teammates, had reduced the gap to a minute and 20 seconds.
Carapaz launched an early attack during the 11.2km category one climb, and Tobias Johannessen followed closely. But about 2.5km below the summit, the general classification contenders caught the leaders.
Soon after, as the gradient reached 16 per cent during the final two kilometres of the climb, Pogacar made his move and pulled ahead. The 27-year-old had a 30-second lead at the summit, and flew through the final 5km to the finish line, finishing 38 seconds before second-placed Del Toro.
Stage two winner Del Toro managed to beat Seixas at the finish, and passed Ayuso to go fourth in the overall rankings.
Pogacar said he expected Sunday’s stage 15, another mountainous ride from Champagnole to Plateau de Solaison, to be a bigger challenge.
“Will be a hard day for us, but we will be ready to fight and see what will happen,” he added.
Source: Reuters
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