Tadej Pogacar: “When I saw that Wout van Aert had dropped Jonas Vingegaard, I stopped worrying”

Then the wearer of the white jersey refined his repartee. “It’s good that you let go of your guys (teammates) too. I was lucky“, retorted Pogacar to Van Aert. A tasty and significant exchange. During Paris-Nice at the start of the season, the Jumbo-Visma had tried a blow similar to that of this Tuesday, from the 1st stage. The success had been more spectacular still, tripled Christophe Laporte – Primoz Roglic – Wout van Aert at the key.

Vingegaard has a time followed Van Aert

This time, “WVA” has therefore made the trunk solo. When Tiesj Benoot put the yellow rocket into orbit, Primoz Roglic had already given up some ground, but there was still Jonas Vingegaard in his wake, as well as another contender for the coronation: Adam Yates (INEOS Grenadiers). For a poorly placed Pogacar at the foot of the Côte du Cap Blanc-Nez, the prospect of a double blow from the Dutch formation was significant. The Slovenian could lose precious seconds.

Hence the relief of “Pogi” when his runner-up last year was left behind. “I was coming back from the back when he (Van Aert) attackedhe explained about the decisive offensive, carried out about ten terminals from the goal. And when I saw he dropped Vingegaard, I stopped worrying. ” Third in the general classification, Tadej Pogacar retains an 8-second lead over the Dane and 9 over Roglic. But he therefore trembled, if only a little.