Tadej Pogacar preceded Jonas Vingegaard but did not knock him out, far from it, on Wednesday on the 17th stage, the penultimate in the Pyrenees, disputed over 130 km between Saint-Gaudens and the Altiport de Peyragudes. Once once more the strongest of the lot, the 1st and 2nd overall were explained in the sprint in the last of the four climbs of the day.
The two contenders for the final victory did not give the breakaways or the other general riders a chance in this short and nervous stage. Remained with only 3 team members following the failures of Mother et SolerPogacar did not hesitate to put his team to work to skim the peloton in the Col d’Hourquette d’Ancizan first and then in the Col de Val Louron – Azet.
The twenty escapees – including Teuns, Pinot, Lutsenko or The bard – who had tried to anticipate have not received their chance for victory. At the top of the Col de Val Louron-Azet, there were only three men left in the lead: Tadej Pogacar, his teammate Brandon McNulty and the Jonas Vingegaard yellow jersey.
The three men remained wheel to wheel on the last ascent towards Peyragudes and waited for the last steep climb towards the Altiport to accelerate. Sitting on his bike, Pogacar waited for a first attack from Vingegaard to react, counter it and place his wheels in front of those of the Dane to pocket a 3rd success in this Tour de France, the 9th of his career on the Grande-Boucle. Thanks to the 4 seconds of bonuses nibbled by Pogacar on Vingegaard, the Slovenian returns to 2: 18 of the yellow jersey.
Third overall, Geraint Thomas took 4th place in the stage and conceded 2:07 to the first two on Wednesday.
Thursday, the 18th stage between Lourdes and Hautacam will be the last opportunity to make a difference in the mountains before the arrival in Paris. The runners will notably have to face the Col d’Aubisque, the Col de Spandelles and the climb to Hautacam.
