His only challenge is himself. Tadej Pogacar has no rivals, he has feats to achieve. Days to pay homage to cycling and its emblematic places. There’s nothing like Alpe d’Huez. There’s no one like Pogacar. Their fusion was a matter of time, of a sunny Friday when the frenzied crowd would enjoy the god of the Tour. Tadej not only won on the magic mountain, Tadej delivered a performance for all time. [Narration and classifications]
Legends are written this way, when boasts are not even needed, as his Tour victory is already well secured. Starting without speculation, from the base, with the 21 mythical curves to cross, to chew one by one, with none of those ahead of him in the general classification even trying to follow him. Without teammates this time to hand it to him on a silver platter. With more than 20 escapees to hunt down, overtaken as if it were a video game. Even the most difficult feat, overcoming the 3:30 advantage held by three renowned climbers. Sepp Kuss, Lenny Martínez and the brave Richard Carapaz paying homage to the legend.
The Frenchman and the Ecuadorian, with less than two kilometers to go, were the last to surrender. Luxury spectators of the exhibition, for soon after they saw him abandon them towards that image with his arms raised at the summit that no one will forget. Marco Pantani‘s record, 36:40 from 1995, cycling from another era, shattered. He left it at 35:24, at more than 23 kilometers per hour. His fifth Tour didn’t need endorsement, but it did need an unforgettable stage. Perhaps the greatest of his career. There it is.
The ascent summarizes his power, his superiority. He didn’t attack, he simply accelerated in search of something that for anyone would seem impossible. There were still more than 13 kilometers where he barely had the brief help of Adam Yates, filtered into the breakaway. It was a respite in his heroic effort. Dodging fans as if swatting flies in the narrow corridor left by the crowd.
Everything had been set up for the bravado’s execution. With a UAE visibly weakened by illness, their usual control of the situation went out the window. Even more so when Lenny Martínez (seventh at just under 13 minutes) slipped into the day’s initial breakaway and when, at the end of the penultimate day of the Tour, the summit of summits, the mythological Alpe d’Huez with more than a million fans on its slopes, loomed. Big game, an appetizing prize for which not too much margin was left to the escapees, again Carapaz, up to four Visma riders and the Lidls opening a gap for Mads Pedersen to catch the special sprint points.
They managed to enjoy (among them Javi Romo and Einer Rubio, from Movistar) an advantage of more than four minutes. With the timid work of Red Bull Bora and even Pinarello for unknown reasons, they reached the foot of Alpe d’Huez with 3:30. With five kilometers to go, Pogacar already had the leading trio in sight. Upon being caught, Martínez and Carapaz withstood the first onslaught. Not the second, brutal, with one kilometer remaining.
Four years ago, Pogacar could only attack a couple of times, attempting the impossible against Vingegaard, still licking his wounds from Granon. Another debt to settle. In a big way.
The summit that has hosted the most finishes in Tour history witnessed the feat. And how everything else fell into place behind him. Remco Evenepoel once again defeated the climbers. He arrived 2:29 behind Pogacar, a handful of seconds ahead of Del Toro and Paul Seixas and Skeljmose. The big loser was Juan Ayuso, dropped from the start, losing a minute and falling to seventh place in the general classification.
