Pogacar steals and sends a strong message to Vingegaard and Evenepoel
He already has no opponent ranked within a minute of him. Geraint Thomas, big loser of the day, spent exactly two minutes on Pogacar. The angry fist brandished in the air as Pogacar crossed the finish line said a lot about Pogi’s satisfaction. “This was my first time trial since the World Championship in the discipline last year., says the man who was ranked 21st, almost three minutes behind Remco Evenepoel. “It had been a disaster… I had even started to hate this exercise! So I’m super happy with my performance. I worked a lot this winter on this discipline. To have a better rhythm. I’m also happy that I knew how to stay calm in the first part.”
Stunned, like everyone else, on the last time trial of the Tour de France by the performance of Jonas Vingegaard, the Slovenian sent a strong signal to the Dane with a view to their reunion, if it takes place, this summer. But also to his other opponents announced at the Tour de France, including the world chrono champion, Remco Evenepoel. Because he beat Filippo Ganna on his home ground, notably thanks to the final climb. “I stayed in my zone until the foot of the climb, which I climbed hard. I didn’t expect to open up such a gap on Thomas. Especially since I had heard that I was only eight seconds ahead at the first intermediate score and I thought I was going for a solid time.”
Thomas breaks… his teeth
Starting with a huge single chainring of… 66 teeth, Geraint Thomas broke… his teeth on this enormous gear. He stalled on the final climb. Delayed by eight short seconds at the first intermediate score on Pogacar and forty at the second, the bill was steep at the finish with two minutes lost on the favorite of this Giro. He didn’t have the mood to smile when commenting on his time. “It’s been one of those bad days… It was going well at first. But I got stuck, I couldn’t press as I wanted.” A poor performance when three of his teammates did better than him. He is now flirting with three minutes behind and has been overtaken by Daniel Felipe Martinez, who is 2:36 behind the leader.
Uijtdebroeks loses the white jersey
Cian Uijtdebroeks lost his white jersey as best youngster, dethroned by Luke Plapp. But he doesn’t take offense. On the contrary, he seemed satisfied to have more time to recover by no longer going through the obligations of the protocol ceremony for the wearers of the distinctive jersey. “I gave everything and I’m satisfied, because timing is not my strong point at the momentdid he declare. The goal was not to lose too much time during this long time. One of the hardest of my career! I am satisfied with the result, because it was not easy to find my rhythm on this flat course in its first part before the irregular climb at the end. I feel like I’ve improved in this discipline and that’s what I want to remember: it’s positive.” He lost three places in the general classification and finds himself seventh, just under four minutes behind Pogacar. “The mountain is coming, it will be better for me”, he adds. And it’s arriving this Saturday! With the white jersey in sight again?
A difficult weekend ahead
After Pogacar’s uppercut to his rivals on this time, he will approach a difficult weekend with a comfortable lead. “Yes, I have margin now, but I know that there will be attacks with distant escapes”warns the wearer of the pink jersey.
Starting this Saturday? With a very hilly stage, with two second and third category passes before arriving at the summit at Prati di Tivo, at just under 1500 meters above sea level. A climb of almost fifteen terminals at an average of 7%. On Sunday, the race will head to Naples, after a long stage that is always tricky.
