UAE Team Emirates XRG's Pogačar conquers Pyrenees to take stage win, Tour de France lead

PARIS/VIENNA: Tadej Pogačar won stage 6 of the Tour de France and retook the Yellow Jersey as the leader of the general classification. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG went on a solo conquest on the Col du Tourmalet before riding to the day’s honours at Gavarnie-Gèdre. The victory marked Pogačar’s 23rd stage success at the Tour de France in seven editions, coming just three days after he won the stage to Les Angles. On the first day in the mountains of this year’s Tour, it was the Slovenian’s opportunity to impose his superiority over his rivals for the overall crown. Setting his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates to work from the early knockings, Pogačar was keen to lay down the law from kilometre 0. The harder the race, the better his chances of dislodging his opponents from the wheel. So it proved for the four-time Tour de France champion, who used the Col du Tourmalet as his launchpad. One by one, the Emirati squad’s mountain train peeled off, with both Brandon McNulty and Adam Yates having done their work in setting a hard pace. Once the latter had spent his bullets, it was over to Isaac del Toro, the stage 2 winner, to launch. The Mexican needed no encouragement and immediately jumped out of the saddle. Within a few pedal strokes, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and more had been forced to relent. Del Toro and Pogačar were quickly alone at the head of the bike race, and after riding in unison for a kilometre, Pogačar went off alone. With 43km to ride, the 27-year-old took flight. Up the final 4km of the Col du Tourmalet, he stretched out a healthy gap, and on the descent, he pummelled home his advantage with a brave ride. At the foot of the 18km climb to the finish line, Pogačar held an advantage of well over a minute, and by the summit, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had two minutes and 38 seconds over his nearest competitor, Vingegaard. It had been an imposing effort from the Slovenian, with the Yellow Jersey his reward. Meanwhile, as those behind Pogačar and Vingegaard scrambled to rally themselves, Del Toro stuck to the task of following the wheels and finishing strongly. At the line, the Mexican won the sprint of a small group to take third place on the day, and move himself up to third overall. As for Pogačar, his lead in the general classification over the second-placed Vingegaard stands at two minutes and 42 seconds. The 27-year-old ranked the day’s victory as one of the finest of his remarkable career. Over at the Tour of Austria, Kevin Vermaerke continued his promising start to the stage race by following his second-place finish from stage 1 with third place on stage 2. The result is enough to see the American retain second overall heading into the final three stages. The second stage in Austria ended with an 8.2km-long climb to Großglockner, and it was on these slopes that the battle for the day’s victory played out. As Gregor Mühlberger of the Austrian national team rode to a second successive stage win, Vermaerke duked it out with those behind to finish strongest. Crossing the line a little minute down on the Austrian rider, Vermaerke negotiated the steep slopes to take third place and maintain his position in the general classification. The American was soon thinking about turning podium placings into a stage victory for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.