Tour de France: Pogacar already has the Tour at his feet

Is the Tour de France already over? Pogacar's crash the day before served as a reminder that nothing is ever certain in cycling. But it was still difficult to keep the flames of suspense alive Thursday evening in the heat of the Pyrenean resort, even though the road to Paris is still very long.
Solo winner after attacking practically at the foot of the final climb, the world champion crossed the line 2:10 ahead of a Jonas Vingegaard wincing in pain and he now leads the Dane by 3:31 in the general classification, an already dizzying gap.
Above all, the Slovenian has shown such supremacy that it is difficult to imagine why this would change in the next two days in the Pyrenees and in the Alps next week.
"No, the Tour is not over. We have a comfortable lead, but we must remain calm," he assured after dedicating his victory to the young Italian Samuele Privitera, who died the day before after a crash during the Tour of Valle d'Aosta.
No ascent recordBut in the Visma camp, there were already no illusions about Vingegaard's chances of competing against such firepower. "Pogacar has shown that he is the strongest," conceded Grischa Niermann, the sporting director of the "hornets," who fell apart at the foot of Hautacam after a huge relay from Tim Wellens.
Simon Yates, Matteo Jorgenson and Simon Yates disappeared in a matter of seconds, all the plans were crumpled, and Vingegaard found himself all alone when Jhonatan Narvaez launched Pogacar with a sprint whose violence surprised even his leader.
"I asked myself: what is he doing? I went with the flow, telling myself that at worst I was going to explode. But I felt good," explained Pogacar, not at all bothered by his fall the day before.
Unlike last year, when he smashed Marco Pantani's record on the climb of the Plateau de Beille, the Slovenian this time took 30 seconds longer to climb Hautacam than Bjarne Riis, who was convicted of doping, in 1996.
But he displayed irresistible strength during his 12-kilometer solo run to take resounding revenge on 2022, when Vingegaard humiliated him on these same slopes.
"I was nervous this morning at the start, 2022 was running through my mind. But I was also very motivated and when I saw that the Visma were dropping one after the other, I told myself that it could be a great day for us," said the world champion who on the final climb quickly swallowed up Bruno Armirail, author of a magnificent breakaway on his home turf.
"A fairy tale""I've been living a fairy tale for two years," the 26-year-old Slovenian said. "I'm riding with the rainbow jersey on my back, with an incredible team, wonderful teammates, and that gives me the strength to go so far in the face of suffering. When this sacred fire dies, I will undoubtedly decline, but now I feel like I'm at the peak of my career."
While the domination of the world champion, on his way to a fourth Tour de France, already seems to have destroyed all suspense, the fight for third place promises to be exciting.
Because the podium is no longer promised to Remco Evenepoel, who was distanced from the Col du Soulor - as was the yellow jersey Ben Healy - and finished only seventh, 3:35 behind Pogacar.
The Belgian must now reckon with the emergence of a young generation led by the amazing Florian Lipowitz. The German is confirming his podium finishes at Paris-Nice (2nd) and the Dauphiné (3rd) day after day and now seems to be Red-Bull Bora's trump card, ahead of Primoz Roglic.
Oscar Onley and Tobias Johannessen, the one who had knocked Pogacar off his feet the day before, also made a strong impression, as did Kévin Vauquelin, who masterfully passed his first big test in the high mountains.
"I'm starting to get a better feel for the mountains," said the Frenchman, who finished sixth in the stage ahead of Evenepoel.
What's the future? "We'll see if I can compete for the overall standings. There's still a week and a half left with some really tough climbs," he said. "But I'm making progress on a lot of levels, and I'm very happy about that."
Var-Matin