LE LIORAN, France — Four-time champion Tadej Pogačar dealt his rivals another crushing blow by winning Stage 10 of the Tour de France to extend his already commanding overall lead.
“You never know how long it lasts,” said Pogačar, who is on course to equal the record for Tour wins. Only Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault have five Tour victories to their names.
“We just need to be grateful for this moment to be riding in the biggest race of the world,” the 27-year-old Pogačar said.
Pogačar, who already had sapped his rivals’ morale with victory on the iconic Col du Tourmalet, again stamped his authority with a break just under 1,000 yards from the summit of the Col de Pertus, the penultimate climb of the hilly stage.
Pogačar’s main challenger, Jonas Vingegaard, couldn’t follow and Pogačar quickly made ground on Richard Carapaz before powering past him just over 200 yards before the summit. The Slovenian rider didn’t slow down. Pogačar was 5 seconds ahead of Carapaz at the summit, and 18 ahead of Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Florian Lipowitz, Juan Ayuso and Paul Seixas.
He then increased that lead.
At the finish line, Pogačar was 32 seconds ahead of Evenepoel for his 24th stage victory altogether – his third on Bastille Day, France’s national holiday – and the third already at this Tour.
Seixas, French fans’ greatest hope, was third, 34 seconds behind.
Vingegaard only could finish 44 seconds behind Pogačar, leaving the yellow jersey holder with a lead of 3 minutes, 36 seconds after 10 stages.
Pogačar already had the biggest lead he ever has had at this stage of the race.
Teamed to perfection
Pogačar’s UAE Emirates-XRG teammates controlled the stage even when Mathieu van der Poel, the winner of the previous stage, was among a group of 31 riders that pulled away before the first climb of the day on Côte de Pailherols.
Javier Romo emerged to lead alone but he never was allowed to get too far ahead. Carapaz attacked after the Spanish rider was caught by the peloton and he in turn was powerless to prevent Pogačar surging past on the Col de Pertus.
“The team did a super good job. We targeted this stage a long time ago,” said Pogačar, who remembered being beaten by Vingegaard “fair and square” at Le Lioran two years earlier. That was the Dane’s last stage win over his rival.
“Today I had similar legs in the finish, completely destroyed,” said Pogačar, who added he couldn’t hear anything over his radio because of the noise from fans. “I didn’t know I was going to win until the last kilometer.”
Some fans booed, but Pogačar said he didn’t mind.
“To all the guys that were booing, they give us more power,” he said.
