From the top of the Pla d’Adet you could see him coming. The almost perfect amphitheatre of cycling allowed you to see the little yellow dot in the distance, alone from 4km to go on the Pyrenean climb on stage 14 of the Tour de France. The roars followed him, with fans cheering his every move, whether they were watching him on the roadside or on the big screen. Nearby, a French tween clenched his fists, squealing “Pogi” as it looked like the Slovenian might not have made a decisive move.
It was a crucial move, though, and the French tween got his wish. Tadej Pogačar is the most destructive rider in the world when he attacks on a mountain like this, quickly bridging a 30 second gap, putting time into his rivals. It happens so quickly, it leaves you gasping for breath, let alone the rider himself.
In the end, the UAE Team Emirates rider put over half a minute into his big rival, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), on a day which wasn’t supposed to be this decisive. There is still a long way to go - seven stages, with five especially being dangerous - but 1:57 is not an insignificant margin to have. At this point last year, Vingegaard had just 10 seconds on Pogačar.
If we are to believe UAE Team Emirates, it wasn’t supposed to be as much as 39 seconds on stage 14.
“We can say it was the perfect day,” Mauro Gianetti, the team’s boss, said post-stage. “Maybe better than expected, because today the expectation was to gain five or 10 seconds, so to finish with more is very good for us.”
It was set up by a squad which worked tirelessly for its leader all day, with the coup de grâce being administered by Adam Yates, who attacked with just over 7km to go, in an improvised move. Pogačar then bridged across, used him as shelter for a few minutes, before attacking away. The final part came as a surprise, even to Yates.
“It was a little bit of improvisation,” he explained. “I was ready to do the pace like normal but he told me to attack and I was like ‘what?!’ I looked behind a couple of times to see where he was but then he came across and I couldn’t do too much for him because I was already a little bit cooked from the effort. But in the end it was a good day and we took some time.”
“It’s so hard to speak on the climb when so many people are cheering, and you’re also on the limit,” Pogačar said, giving his side of the story. “I screamed at him, and he screamed back. Just to say a few words took almost five minutes.
“I was saying go, go, go for the stage. We see what happens when you attack if somebody reacts or not. That’s how we test the legs of everybody else. I was thinking he might have a chance for a stage win, but then I saw an opportunity to go towards him. He basically died there on the road for me so I could gain a little bit of an advantage, take a breather, and go from there to the finish. So, big thanks to Adam.”
The win was surely as important in the psychological duel between Vingegaard and Pogačar as in actual time gained. The former was able to beat the latter in a sprint last Wednesday, for the first time ever.
However, Pogačar insisted that he was not out for “revenge” over his Danish rival.
“It’s just cycling,” he said. “It’s not war or anything. It’s cycling, it’s a game we play. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But today, for me, this was a big win. Winning a Tour de France stage is above almost everything else in cycling. When you cross the finish line first, in the yellow jersey especially, winning the stage, it’s something hard to describe.”
The last two Tours de France have seen Pogačar feign top form before cracking under intense pressure from Vingegaard and Visma; this year, it's UAE who are on top. Of course, this could change, but it seems that the squad have both the tactics and the legs to win.
Asked if he is better than ever right now, Pogačar said: “If I’m honest, yeah.”
“I definitely say I’m much better than last year, more consistent,” he continued. “But you cannot only watch the power output. It’s also about how you handle all the pressure, all the emotions, everything. This adds up every year. I’m getting more and more comfortable on the bike. I’m having fun and enjoying this moment. I think for sure I cannot go much better for many more years, so I will enjoy this while it lasts.”
Enjoy the Pogačar show, while it lasts, like the fans in the Pyrenees on Saturday so clearly did. However, the Tour is far from over, something UAE are very aware of. That leaves more time for the Pogačar show, but also time for Vingegaard and Visma to come back. This is not the end, or even the beginning of the end.
“We said from the beginning that Tadej is stronger than ever, so Jonas is also very good, and there's still a long way to go, with so many mountains,” Gianetti said. “It was just one day, there's still a lot to go. Nothing is finished.”
