Tadej Pogacar can be wear the yellow jersey more comfortably tonight as he endured what was perhaps Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s hardest attack during this whole Tour de France. The UAE Team Emirates – XRG leader maintained the yellow jersey and had some words pointed towards his rivals.
“We’ll see what happens tomorrow; it’s another very tough day. If the stage is like today’s, I’m more relaxed because the team was very strong. Visma tried everything, but it was no use. My teammates defended me well, and we were very united,” Pogacar said in a post-race interview.
UAE managed to have Tim Wellens in the breakaway, whilst it was to no avail ultimately. However because of Pogacar and Vingegaard’s superiority over the rest of the field, the Slovenian only had to watch one rider throughout the last few days: Jonas Vingegaard. No matter how effective Visma’s tactics would be, they would be to no avail if they couldn’t drop the yellow jersey, and that’s what happened.
Pogacar withstood Vingegaard’s monstrous attack on the Col de la Madeleine, carefully crafted by their rivals, and there was not much room to surprise from there on. UAE showed themselves stronger on the final ascent having spent less with their domestiques, and Pogacar could have a relatively calm final ascent until the final 2 kilometers. But Vingegaard couldn’t drop him, and Pogacar added another 11 seconds to the difference in the end of the stage.
On the Col de la Loze, the Tour’s leader had some interesting comments, not directly on the race itself. “The other side is harder. I’d like to be able to tackle a stage on that side soon, then I’ll definitely go for the win. Today was easier, although it’s tough, but the other side is worse,” he added. “It was difficult to take advantage today, but I’m happy to still be in yellow and to have gained some advantage. It was a good day,”
The green jersey is also still a possibility, albeit never a priority, With this in mind he was already asked about the final stage in Paris, seeing that his yellow jersey seems safe unless he cracks completely on stage 19. “Tomorrow we’ll race with the same approach, also looking to survive, just like today. We might go for the win on the Champs-Élysées stage,” he concluded.