2023-07-14 16:53:15
Cycling star Tadej Pogacar made up ground on defending champion Jonas Vingegaard at the mountain finish of the 110th Tour de France on the Grand Colombier. The Slovenian broke away from his Danish opponent shortly before the finish on the French national holiday and reduced the gap in the overall classification to nine seconds. The day’s victory on Friday went to the Polish breakaway Michal Kwiatkowski.
The ex-world champion won ahead of Belgian Maxim Van Gils and Pogacar. Vingegaard finished fourth. The Austrian Felix Gall finished 14th in the 138-kilometre-long 13th stage with around 2,500 vertical meters and improved to 14th place in the overall standings (+10:33 minutes). In the mountain classification, the East Tyrolean slipped back from third to fifth place.
Gall was in a group with top drivers Pogacar and Vingegaard for a long time, but had to let it break off a few kilometers before the end. Pogacar’s team drove at high speed into the final climb in the French part of the Jura. For a long time, however, Vingegaard did not leave the rear wheel of the overall second. It was only on the last kilometer that Pogacar took heart and launched one of his dreaded attacks. Vingegaard pulled away, but contained the damage and rolled over the finish line just behind Pogacar.
“It was a small victory for us with the seconds. That’s a good start,” said Pogacar, looking ahead to the Alpine stages that followed until Wednesday. The Slovenian had words of praise for his opponent Vingegaard: “He’s a great driver, one of the best climbers in the world. It’s really difficult to lose him. I tried a long sprint, and in the end I was really at the limit. But the seconds were worth it.”
Vingegaard was relaxed despite the renewed reduction in the lead: “The goal was to defend my yellow jersey. I managed that. The tour was decided by just a few seconds.”
On Saturday, the 151.8-kilometer route to Morzine is the next really difficult stage in the Alps. Three mountains of the first category have to be climbed before there are even bonus seconds on the Col de Joux Plane, which is assigned to the highest category. In the twelve-kilometer descent to the finish line, there is hardly any time to catch up.
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