“We are not obligated to attack,” was how Tadej Pogačar described his team’s strategy going into stage 14 and the first summit finish of the 2024 Tour de France - but attack the Slovenian duly did, cementing his overall advantage with a spectacular solo victory at Pla d’Adet.
Just three days after arch-rival Jonas Vingegaard managed to outsprint the UAE Team Emirates rider at Le Lioran, seemingly turning the tables on Pogačar, the Tour leader then dramatically reversed the race momentum in the Pyrenees once again.
First, sending teammate Adam Yates up the road forced Visma-Lease A Bike to chase Matteo Jorgenson in the yellow jersey group. Then, when Pogačar blasted away from the pack at 4.5 kilometres from the summit, Yates gave him the brief but vital support he needed to blast off alone to the finish. As Pogačar put it later, "Adam was the key."
By the summit, as Pogačar claimed his 13th stage win and second of the 2024 Tour de France, his total advantage on lone chaser Vingegaard, including time bonuses, was 39 seconds, buttressing his overall advantage to nearly two minutes.
That´s not a big enough margin enough to say that the Tour is Pogačar ´s to lose by any means. But it´s a significant step for the Slovenian in that direction and one which also enables him to put any doubts that emerged when Vingegaard beat him at Le Lioran behind him.
“We tried to go for the stage, and I thought more to go for the sprint, maybe take some seconds,” Pogačar said, “but I acted on instinct, and for this to happen - it’s much better.”
“Adam attacked, and Visma had to try to maintain the gap. I thought if I bridged over to Adam, he could pull me, which he did like it was the last 500 metres of a stage. And that was really perfect.
“I must say - a big thank you to all the team today, they were amazing and this victory is for all my teammates.”
Pogačar explained that with the deafening noise on the climb, communication between himself and Yates was virtually impossible. But the critical message got through, albeit at the risk of shouting themselves hoarse.
“Oh man, it was so hard to speak on the climb when there are so many people cheering and you´re also on the limit,” he recounted.
“I just screamed at him, he screamed back at me, it took us almost five minutes to get it clear. I said - 'Go! Go! for the stage, and we’ll see what happens, if somebody reacts, we can see how we test everybody else's legs.'
“So I was thinking he might have a chance for a stage win, but then I saw the opportunity to go towards him. He basically died on the road for me so I could gain a little bit of an advantage, take a breather, and go on to the finish. So a big thanks to Adam, in the end - he was the key.”
If Yates unlocked the door for Pogačar to go clear and open the biggest gap on Vingegaard to date, both on a single stage and on GC in the 2024 Tour, the Slovenian denied that there was any sense of sporting revenge on his arch-rival driving him on.
“It was not revenge, this is just cycling, it´s not a war or anything, it´s a game we play,” he recounted, “and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But today, this was a big win.
“It´s a Tour de France stage, it´s above almost everything else in cycling and when you cross the line first, with the yellow jersey, winning the stage, really - it’s something hard to describe how good it feels.”
On the other hand, he recognised, even if he was not in his best ever form, “If I’m honest, I can definitely say I’m much better than last year, I’m more consistent.”
“But you cannot only look at the power output for 15 or 20 minutes, it´s also how handle all the pressure, all the emotions, everything and I thiink this adds up every year. So I’m getting more and more comfortable on the bike and I’m having fun. I think for sure I cannot go much better for more years, so I will enjoy this while it lasts."
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