Pogacar takes another bite

The first assault of great mountain triptych only brought a little eight second bitefour on the road and four for the bonus, but in the straits of this Tour de France took the appearance of a large denture, one more in Tadej Pogacar’s lockerthat second by second neutralizes the advantage of yellow jersey, Jonas Vingegaard. The Dane hit the strongest blow of this edition, 1:04 minutes into the first contact with the Pyrenees, but the Slovenian has hit more times, in a drop by drop that erodes the leader. Pogacar leaves the Grand Colombier nine seconds behind Vingegaardat the gates of two days of the alps with two tours that should bust the calculator.

This 13th stage It was a short journey, 138 kilometers long, and one port, ending in the Grand Colombier, in the Jura massifa long climb of 17.4 kilometers at a 7.1% gradient, where the very Pogacar had registered his name in 2020his first Tour. The UAE Team controlled the head of the peloton at all times, with a clear message that the Slovenian was going to launch an ordeal to those 17 seconds that separated him from Vingegaard. The goal bonuses were also sweet to round off the job, so the day’s break never went very far. For a long time it seemed that he was not going to reach the top, but this time the calculations failed, because two escapees crossed ahead, Michal Kwiatkowski, excellent winner, and Maxim van Gils, which deprived Pogacar, who finished third, of a greater bonus: four seconds instead of ten.

The rate of rise announced a pogi attack, but it took time to arrive. In fact, the first to open gas was her gregarious Adam Yates, who moved the tree at the orders of his boss. he quickly left Sepp Kuss at his wheel, in a duel of seconds swords. And behind, the two colossi. Pogacar must not have seen it clearly, because he waited for the last 500 meters to show his jaws, at the top of watts. That first arreón did not let Vingegaard down, but the second did. Danish is less explosive. And the Slovenian abuses that weakness. It was a torn billboard, from YouTube cycling, although she again left the feeling that Tadej is a dot above Jonas. It was fireworks on the French holiday, although the noisy firecrackers are mining the mood of the enemy.

Indeed, July 14 is not just another day in the Tour, it is the National Day of France, the commemoration of the Storming of the Bastilleso the roads are flooded with tricolor flags, and dirt bikers throw themselves into the attack on the edge of La Marseillaise. Rémi Cavagna, first; Anthony Pérez, later, and Pierre Latour, finally, fulfilled their patriotic duty to move the race on such an important date, until the definitive breakaway was formed. On this occasion there were 19 adventurers, including three Frenchmen, Latour himself with Quentin Pacher and Adrien Petit. The men meant to keep you alive the spirit of the revolution. When push came to shove, only Pacher reared his head with an attack on the first ramps of the Grand Colombierbut failed to open a gap.

The hero of the day was not going to speak French, but Polish, because he was Michał Kwiatkowski, a war veteran, who used class and experience to finish off the break and adorn his splendid record, which already adds two stages in the Tourafter which he won at Roche sur Foron in 2020 at the hands of Richard Carapaz; the Ponferrada World Cup 2016, and a bunch of prestigious classics such as the San Remo, the Amstel, the Strade Bianche, Harelbeke, San Sebastián… Kiato is a top cyclist who, at 33, continues to make the most of his quality. This Friday he showed it again. And, by the way, broke the perfect ending to Pogacarwho got a good profit from the stage to his fight in the generalbut couldn’t win.

General ranking

after cyclist	Equipment	Time
1 Michal Kwiatkowski	IGD	3:17:33
2 Maxim Van Gils	LTD	+00:47
3 Tadej Pogacar	UAD	+00:50
4 Jonas Vingegaard	TJV	+00:54
5 thomas pidcock	IGD	+01:03
6 Jai Hindley	BOH	+01:05
7 James Shaw	EFE	+01:05
8 Harold Tejada	AST	+01:05
9 Simon Yates	JAY	+01:14
10 adam yates	UAD	+01:18

after cyclist	Equipment	Time
1 Jonas Vingegaard	TJV	53:48:50
2 Tadej Pogacar	UAD	+00:09
3 Jai Hindley	BOH	+02:51
4 carlos rodriguez	IGD	+04:48
5 adam yates	UAD	+05:03
6 Simon Yates	JAY	+05:04
7 Peio Bilbao	TBV	+05:25
8 thomas pidcock	IGD	+05:35
9 David Gaudú	GFC	+06:52
10 Sepp Kuss	TJV	+07:11

See complete classification