Is he escalating or not? Is he firing up the turbo in his legs? Already on the second day of the Tour de France? Yes, he did. Tadej Pogacar sought controversy with his competitors for the classification, won the yellow jersey and got a clear indication of who his main rival will be in these three weeks of racing. It is not only a good acquaintance, but also the person who snatched victory from Pogacar in the Tour de France in the past two years: Jonas Vingegaard.
Pogacar had waited until the last moment to launch his spectacular attack. After the Slovenian had his team UAE increase the pace enormously on the second ascent to the San Luca pilgrimage church, a short, steep climb with ramps of up to 20 percent, he sprinted off at the top and plunged into the descent. With Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a bike) as the only one who could follow, on his rear wheel.
There was no sign of Primoz Roglic, who wants to give himself and the German team Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe their long-awaited first Tour triumph this year. It was a race within a race that the two superstars rode – they let the breakaway groups of the day do as they pleased; one that overwhelmed some of their competitors. And one about which Pogacar said with emphatically calm that it had been a good opportunity to “test my legs and those of my competitors”. And almost casually, the 25-year-old mentioned that some of his competitors had also “exploded a little”.
Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard are in a close race.AP
Romain Bardet lost the yellow jersey, which he earned the day before with a daring ride on the opening stage to Rimini, at the first opportunity. Roglic lost a painful 21 seconds.
“He wasn’t where he should be. He wasn’t on the same level as Pogacar and Vingegaard,” said a dismayed Ralph Denk, team boss of Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe. The German team’s sporting director, Rolf Aldag, said: “If those two go, you have to be on the rear wheel.”
Remco Evenepoel, the Belgian among the top favorites, was initially unable to do so at the moment of the attack. But the 2023 world champion was still able to catch up. The classification thus gives the picture that Pogacar, Evenepoel and Vingegaard (as well as the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz) are at the top at the same time, but Pogacar is wearing the “Maillot jaune” due to his overall better placings on the opening weekend of the Tour, which offered two thrilling stages.
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What was somewhat overlooked in the first exchange of blows between the top stars was that the Tour de France had not yet reached French soil, but had a clear French influence. After Bardet’s success on Saturday, Kévin Vauquelin won as a soloist in front of tens of thousands of spectators lining the route in Bologna. For the French professional, it was the greatest success of his life, and for his French team Arkea-B&B Hotels, the greatest in their history.
The 199-kilometer stage started in Cesenatico, the hometown of former Italian cycling hero Marco Pantani. A reminiscence of “Il Pirata”, who died almost exactly 20 years ago – in Rimini, which was the finish of the stage on Saturday.
From an overdose of cocaine, as stated in the autopsy report and another expert opinion. And yet there are still myths surrounding Pantani’s death in Italy. The fact is that in his time he shaped cycling with his aggressive riding style in the high mountains and damaged it with his doping abuse – before he became addicted to drugs.
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In any case, Pantani is the last racing driver who managed to win the Giro d’Italia and the Tour in one year. That was in 1998. In 2024, Pogacar will take on this challenge. His start (explosive), performance (confident) and appearance (yellow jersey) in Bologna suggest that the Slovenian superstar is on the right track.
Although he hasn’t yet been able to scare Vingegaard in the saddle, he now knows where he stands with the Dane. He now knows that the defending champion has not only physically recovered from his bad fall in the spring, but is also mentally at his best.
Otherwise, the Scandinavian, who has not raced in almost three months, would hardly have thrown himself into the descent so courageously behind Pogacar. The two then worked together for a while in the final race, taking turns to lead as a frenzied community of interests in order to force the competition to fall behind.
There is already much to suggest that this will be the fourth Tour in a row that will be dominated by the Pogacar-Vingegaard duel.
The next showdown between the two is expected this Tuesday (from 1:05 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Tour de France, on ARD and on Eurosport). Because on the fourth stage, the peloton will be taking on the Col du Galibier (2,642 meters) on the way to Valloire. A terrain that is perfect for the next duel between the two seemingly unstoppable riders.
