It was not necessarily the intention of Tadej Pogacar to conquer the yellow jersey in the Tour de France on Thursday. The Slovenian sprinted to the stage victory in the sixth stage and that gave him the lead in the standings.
“I would not have had it if I had not had the yellow jersey by now. I wanted to win the stage. The yellow is a bonus,” said Pogacar, who took over the lead from Wout van Aert, in a first reaction.
Van Aert impressed by leading almost all day. He had Jakob Fuglsang and Quinn Simmons with him and was left alone, but failed to stay ahead.
“The strongest man drove ahead today,” said Pogacar about Van Aert, who was caught 11 kilometers from the finish. The Jumbo-Visma rider immediately let the group run, after which Pogacar kept Neilson Powless out of the yellow thanks to bonus seconds.
Top 10 standings
- 1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
- 2. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) +0.04
- 3. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +0.31
- 4. Adam Yates (INEOS Grenadiers) +0.39
- 5. Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) +0.40
- 6. Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) +0.46
- 7. Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe) +0.52
- 8. Daniel Martínez (INEOS Grenadiers) +1.00
- 9. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) +1.01
- 10. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +1.02
‘We had to drive very hard’
The 23-year-old Pogacar, who won the last two editions of the Tour de France and already won the yellow in the eighth stage last year, did not expect that he would be able to participate for the victory for Thursday’s stage. “But I was in a good flow in the final and my team believed in me.”
“It was a tough day, we had to drive very hard behind Van Aert. In the end the peloton was too strong for him. My team did a great job, especially on those last two climbs.”
The Tour peloton awaits the first uphill finish of this Tour on Friday, at La Planche des Belles Filles. Two years ago, on that col in the Vosges, Pogacar drove his compatriot Primoz Roglic out of yellow on the penultimate day of the Tour de France.
“I love La Planche des Belles Filles, have very fond memories of the climb,” said Pogacar. “And the best part is that my family and fiancé will be on the summit tomorrow. I can’t wait to see them there.”