Tadej Pogacar rules the 113th Tour de France. The Slovenian world champion sprinted away from all rivals in the finale into the Pyrenean village of Les Angles and snatched the yellow jersey from Jonas Vingegaard on the third stage – despite finishing level on time. Fractions of seconds from the time trial tipped the balance in Pogacar’s favour. Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) finished second, Tokyo Olympic champion Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) third. The day before, Pogacar had generously let his domestique Isaac del Toro take the stage win – this time the four-time overall champion struck himself.
Florian Lipowitz, last year’s third-place finisher in the general classification, lost further valuable seconds in seventh place and now sits 53 seconds behind Pogacar in overall seventh. His Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe teammate Remco Evenepoel crossed the line level with Lipowitz and holds third overall, 23 seconds off the leading duo. With his stage win in Les Angles, Pogacar celebrated his 122nd professional victory and his 22nd at the Tour de France – putting him on course for the record of five overall wins. The race took place despite devastating wildfires approximately 70 kilometres away, with the route adjusted at short notice: spectators were asked to stay away from the course after the crossing from Spain into France, the publicity caravan did not enter French territory, and security measures were tightened.
The route itself demanded everything from the riders: over 195.9 kilometres in temperatures above 35 degrees, the professionals set an enormously high pace from the outset. A breakaway group only successfully formed after two hours, but the peloton never allowed the escapees to get far away. The lead at the border crossing into France was barely a minute and a half. UAE Emirates-XRG dictated the pace in the main field, with Cologne’s Nils Politt working at the front for a long time.
The last breakaway rider, Frenchman Alex Baudin, was caught by the field eleven kilometres from the finish. Then Pogacar’s domestiques set up their captain’s attack – the rest is history.
The fourth stage on Tuesday from Carcassonne to Foix over 181.9 kilometres with four categorised climbs, two of them second category, offers options for climber-sprinters and breakaway riders. This stage too remains subject to reservation due to the ongoing wildfire risk.
