Tadej Pogačar Dominates Stage 12, Reclaims Lead in Thrilling Tour de France Mountain Victory

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Tadej Pogačar declared he was experiencing the peak of his career as he secured a decisive Tour de France stage triumph at Hautacam in the Pyrenees on Thursday.

The three-time Tour champion overpowered his main competitor Jonas Vingegaard on stage 12, leaving him to try to contain the setback on the race’s first major mountain stage of the 21-day event.

Leading Team UAE, Pogačar launched into an 11km solo climb, finishing two minutes and 10 seconds ahead of Vingegaard, who decided against attempting to match the swift offensive.

The overnight leader, Ireland’s Ben Healy, meanwhile, dropped to a 13-minute gap by the end of the day.

French President Emmanuel Macron was on hand at the mountaintop finish, shaking his head in admiration as the 26-year-old shot across the line. Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel was also left trying to limit his losses, finishing 3 minutes 35 seconds down in seventh on the 180.6km ride from Auch.

In the overall classification, Pogačar now holds a 3 minute 31 second advantage over Visma’s Vingegaard, with Evenepoel third, trailing by an intimidating 4 minutes 45 seconds.

‘Like a fairytale’

Pogačar admitted after the race that until now he’s been cranky, complaining about attacks, the heat and tiredness.

But he offered a different story in the Pyrenees.

“I could see that Visma weren’t feeling so well,” he said.

“It was really hot on the final climb but I was feeling excellent,” he explained, describing how he broke away from the 12-competitor group still attempting to keep pace at the start of the last ascent.

A man wearing a yellow cycling jersey smiling and giving thumbs up

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar has taken the yellow jersey after the 12th stage of the Tour de France cycling race. Source: AAP / Mosa’ab Elshamy/AP

He also offered a broader explanation.

“This is the best moment of my career. It’s been like a fairytale,” he said of the stage win on a mountain where he had previously been beaten.

“I enjoy this sufferfest,” he said of the long climb days. “I’m at the peak of my career. Once this fire goes out, my performance will drop.”

Pogačar admitted at the finish line his team had been secretly targeting this stage for some time.

“The plan was to win this stage,” he said. “I’m super happy to take time and win on this particular climb,” said Pogačar, who fell heavily on stage 11.

“You don’t know how your body reacts after a crash. It wasn’t so bad. The team did a super job.”

Tough day for Irishman

The champion had kind words for Irishman Healy, who had a bruising day himself.

“Healy tried, he showed big spirit. It was hard for everybody today,” said Pogacar.

He also dedicated this win to Italian junior cyclist Samuele Privitera who died aged 19 following a fall at this week’s Tour of the Aoste Valley-Mont Blanc.

“I was thinking of him in the final kilometre. This sport can be so hard. It’s so sad,” Pogačar said.

Friday’s stage 13 could shake up the standings again as it is an unforgiving individual time trial, mainly uphill, that the Slovenian has been looking forward to.

“The race isn’t over, just look at the next few stages and then there’s next week too,” he said.

A cyclist being cheered on by fans as he rides along a road

The 12th stage of the Tour de France cycling race is180.6km from Auch to Hautacam. Source: AAP / Martin Divisek / EPA

Pogačar also took over the polka dot king of the mountain jersey while Jonathan Milan has the green sprint jersey and Evenepoel the white jersey as the best young rider.

Healy described his time in yellow as a “whirlwind” after dropping to 11th, over 13min off the pace.

There were three mountains on the menu Thursday as the peloton entered the Pyrenees. The pack was whittled down before Pogačar’s astonishing attack on the fabled Hautacam, a 13.6km ascent at 7.8 percent gradient.

On Friday a 10.9km race up the Peyragudes mountain rescue airfield with slopes of up to 16 percent await some potentially tired legs with the temperature set to hit around 33 degrees Celsius (92 Fahrenheit).

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