Pogacar flexes his muscles to reclaim yellow jersey in first mountain stage
Tadej Pogacar made an early statement in the Tour de France as he dropped defending champion Jonas Vingegaard to claim victory in the first mountain stage and take the overall leader's yellow jersey on Tuesday.
Tadej Pogacar attacked near the top of the first big mountain pass of the Tour de France and extended his lead during the twisty, high-speed descent to take back the yellow jersey on Tuesday.
Two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard did his best to limit the damage but finished 37 seconds behind on stage four. The race crossed back into France after the opening stages in Italy.
The climb to the 2,642-meter (8,668-foot) Col du Galibier met expectations as the Tour's first decisive point.
“This was more or less the plan and we executed it truly well,” Pogacar said after his 12th career stage win at the Tour. “I wanted to hit hard today. I know this stage really well. I’ve been training here many days. It felt like a home stage.
“I had confidence in the start, I had good legs, and I had to try it. I know the downhill but I was a little bit surprised to see wet road in the first few corners. So it was a little bit scary.”
The roads were slick from melting snow banks.
Previous leader Richard Carapaz was dropped on the Galibier.
Primoz Roglic crossed fourth and Vingegaard fifth.
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
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