2023-07-19 15:28:32
From our special correspondent in Courchevel – Jonas Vingegaard put an end to the suspense of this Tour de France during the 17th stage, arriving 3rd in Courchevel, but relegating Tadej Pogacar to more than 7 minutes overall. The Austrian Felix Gall won alone in the stage considered the most difficult of this Tour, with four passes including the terrible Col de la Loze just before the finish.
Published on: 07/19/2023 – 17:28
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The announced queen stage of this Tour de France, 166 km and four passes to cross between Saint-Gervais and Courchevel kept its promises, Wednesday July 19. Dane Jonas Vingegaard, 3rd in the stage, put an end to all suspense, relegating his main competitor Tadej Pogacar to 7 minutes 35 in the general classification.
Vingegaard had struck a blow Tuesday during the time trial, taking 1 minute 48 ahead of his rival.
Read alsoTime trial: Vingegaard crushes the clock and the Tour de France
This shows how much their explanation in this 17th stage, the last in the Alps, was expected. And once once more, the Dane stunned the competition, already ensuring almost a second success in a row, Sunday on the Champs-Elysées.
“It’s the stage with the most elevation: 5,100 meters. And with the chain of passes, I see a lot of failures in the last kilometers of Loze. There, everyone will be in their place”, predicted quite rightly Thierry Gouvenou, the Tour tracer.
The Col de la Loze fatal to Pogacar
And it was in the Col de la Loze that everything was decided, when 7 km from the summit and 14 km from the finish, Pogacar broke down, being distanced from the peloton and the yellow jersey, without the latter does not even have to attack in the terrible climb: 28.1 km at 6% average.
Pogacar has lost all hope of victory with already 40 seconds behind approaching the last 5 kilometers, terrible, at more than 10% on average on an irregular slope. An infernal series of bumps and small flat areas, a slide towards suffering.
Perhaps the fall of the Slovenian at the start of the stage cost him more than he let on. Just like the blow delivered the day before by his opponent. Even to the point that he feared for a moment for his second place, which he keeps for the moment with 3’10 “in front of his teammate Adam Yates.
Vingegaard flies away
Once his rival was distanced, 4 km from the summit, Vingegaard, carried by his teammate Benoot, launched a solo attack to come back on the breakaways, taking them back almost all one by one. Even when a motorcycle stalled in front of the yellow jersey, the climb of the Loze was so steep, he bypassed it, overwhelmed by a crazy public, to leave without difficulty.
Read alsoTour de France: when the public lets go and can be dangerous
Only the Austrian Felix Gall, who offered himself a fine solo victory, as well as Simon Yates and Pello Bilbao, narrowly, resisted him at the top of the last climb, around 500 meters at 18% to finish on the Courchevel altiport.
Felix Gall achieved the greatest success of his career there, and gave AG2R Citroën its first victory in the 2023 edition.
And barring an accident, the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, 26, takes a definitive option to win his second Tour de France in a row.
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