Tour de France stage 6: Tadej Pogačar bounces back, Jonas Vingegaard snatches yellow, Jai Hindley fades
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The Tour de France is the two-horse race between Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) just as everyone expected, with the Slovenian hitting back a day after struggling.
A determined Pogačar bounced back in thrilling fashion Thursday with a stage-winning jump just under 3km to return the favor to Vingegaard in another wild stage across the Pyrénées.
The searing acceleration quickly put the defending champion on the limit, and the two-time winner won stage 6 to turn the tables.
Pogačar gapped Vingegaard by 24 seconds at the line , but the Dane slipped into the maillot jaune in what was another surprising turn at the Tour.
“I would not say revenge, but it is sweet to win today and take some time back. I feel a little bit relieved and I feel much better now,” Pogačar said. “The display Jonas showed yesterday was incredible. I was thinking when they started pulling on Tourmalet that if the shit is going to happen like yesterday, then we can pack our bags and go home.
“But luckily I had good legs today and could follow on the Tourmalet quite comfortable. Then when I felt it was the right moment at the end I attacked and it was a big relief.”
After the time bonuses wash out, Vingegaard is 25 seconds ahead of Pogačar in yellow, with Jai Hindley defending a podium spot in third at 1:34 back.
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Overnight leader Hindley and his run in the yellow jersey ended on the Tourmalet midway through the stage, opening the door for defending champion Vingegaard to reclaim the yellow tunic.
The Australian couldn’t match the turbos when Sepp Kuss set a blistering pace to set up Vingegaard. Only Pogačar packed the firepower as they powered away from the GC group on the upper flanks of the legendary climb.
“What can I say? It was just an epic day riding around it the yellow jersey doing some mythical climbs,” Hindley said at the line. “To be honest I got my arse handed to me, but really enjoyed it. I knew I just wanted to ride my own race, and if I could hang on to the two big favorites then I would do my best and I did. I just got spat at the top of the climb there with four K to go. It was pretty much lights out from then on. But I gave it a real old crack. That’s all I can do.”
The leading pair linked up breakaway riders, including Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), and dropped everyone again with 4.5km to go on the Cat. 1 finishing climb to Cauterets-Cambasque high in the French Pyrénées.
Powless regained the King of the Mountains jersey with the effort.
Pogačar dropped Vingegaard with about 2.8km to go to win the stage, and pump new energy into the 2023 Tour.
How it played out: Another big break
Wout van Aert rode into the day’s main break. (Photo: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images)
Stage 6 of the Tour de France was another big day in the mountains, with the legendary Col du Tourmalet (km. 98, hors categorie) sandwiched in between the first cat climbs of the Col d’Aspin (km. 68) and Cauterets-Cambasque (km 144.9), the first big summit finish of this year’s Tour.
The stage from Tarbes was visited by the French president Emmanuel Macron, who picked a day filled with dazzling action and stunning Pyrenean scenery.
Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step) went clear right after the start, with that duo being joined by eight others soon afterwards. They were James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost), Nikias Arndt (Bahrain-Victorious), Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X), Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar), Tobias Halland Johhanessen (Uno-X) and Chris Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AlUla).
Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates), Matis Louvel (Arkéa-Samsic) and Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech) subsequently bridged, then did the American King of the Mountains contender Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quick Step), Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar), Oliver Naesen (AG2R Citroën) and Anthony Perez (Cofidis).
Powless took the two points atop the early climb, the third category Côte de Capvern-les-Bains (km. 29.5), reducing slightly his ten point deficit to overnight KOM leader Felix Gall (Ag2r Citroën).
Coquard’s presence in the break enabled him to take the full 20 points for the intermediate sprint at Sarrancolin (km 49). Van Aert, Van der Poel, Gregaard and Perez were the others in the top five there.
The group raced up on and over the top of the Col d’Aspin, with race leader Jai Hindley’s Bora-Hansgrohe team leading the peloton behind. Van Aert led the break up the climb, with Powless beating Guerrero to the summit and retaking the virtual lead in the KOM competition.
Vingegaard cracks Hindley on the Tourmalet
Vingegaard and Pogačar dropped everyone. (Photo: DIRK WAEM/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
The break raced onto the foothills of the Tourmalet, where an impatient Alaphilippe attacked with just under 59km remaining and dragged Shaw clear. However Van Aert remained composed, continued riding steadily and hauled them back, with Alaphilippe sliding to the back and beginning to suffer. The former world champion would crack several kilometers later.
Van Aert continued to tap away at a metronomic pace at the front of the break, while back in the peloton his Jumbo-Visma teammates were busy turning the screw. Riders such as Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) were put into trouble, with more riders then going into the red when the Dutch team accelerated closer to the summit.
Race leader Hindley was staying close but then dramatically cracked 4km from the top, with only Sepp Kuss, Vingegaard and Pogačar left of the top contenders. This group was 2’30 behind the leaders with 49km to go out front, and continued to make inroads.
Vingegaard surged hard but was immediately marked by Pogačar. In contrast to stage five, the Slovenian was able to remain with his big rival and went over the summit glued to his wheel.
Johannessen had beaten Guerreiro to the top of the Tourmalet approximately half a minute earlier and they, Van Aert and Shaw plunged down the descent.
Powless was picked up by Vingegaard and Pogačar just after the summit, while Van Aert sat up and waited for Vingegaard, Pogačar and Powless, bringing them up to those out front and resulting in an eight-man leading group.
Pogačar was seen stretching his wrist out, the fracture sustained in Liège-Bastogne-Liège making things uncomfortable for him. However he was otherwise faring better than on stage 5 and tried to conserve as much energy as possible in advance of the final climb.
Pogačar turns tables on Vingegaard
Pogačar kept his cool until the closing kilometers. (Photo: DIRK WAEM/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
Hindley’s group had slipped back to almost three minutes behind but was two and a half minutes back with just under 10km to go. Powless began to struggle soon afterwards but clawed his way back on to the Van Aert express.
The Belgian continued tapping away at the front and brought the move onto the tougher final part of the climb, trying both to soften up Pogačar and also to stop Hindley’s group being able to narrow the two and a half minute deficit.
Vingegaard attacked with 4.6km remaining, but Pogačar marked him immediately and looked composed. Kwiatkowski was able to get back up to the duo, this suggesting that Vingegaard may not be as strong as one day earlier.
Pogačar launched a huge attack with 2.7km to go and dropped Vingegaard. He quickly got five seconds and this gap continued to grow, soaring to 17″ under the kite and 23″ by the line.
Factor in the bonus seconds and Pogačar showed he is still very much in the fight for the final yellow jersey in this Tour. Vingegaard took over the tunic for today, though, some consolation after a blow to his morale.
Source: Outside Magazine
