Duel of giants! Pogacar wins mountain sprint against Vingegaard
DPA
· 20.07.2022
The big attacks failed to materialise, but at the end of the steep final ramp in Peyragudes, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) at least achieved a respectable success.
Pogacar makes up four seconds on Vingegaard
The defending champion won the 17th stage of the Tour de France at the ski resort in the Pyrenees and made up four seconds on leader Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma).
Before the final act in the mountains, the Dane is 2:18 minutes ahead of Pogacar. The 109th Tour, that much should be clear, will be decided between the two giants of this edition.
Geschke still in the mountain jersey
Simon Geschke (Cofidis) provided the next German ray of hope and defended his mountain jersey once again.
Pogacar had his team set a fast pace on the first three of four mountain classifications. The first fruits of his labour were already evident at the Col de Val Louron-Azet, the penultimate pass at 1580 metres. Only the two-time Tour winner and Vingegaard were able to match the pace of Pogacar's helper Brandon McNulty.
Third overall Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and fourth-placed Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) were already left behind before the finale. Pogacar launched his first attack shortly before the mountain classification, which Vingegaard followed without any problems. The duo went into the final climb together.
Geschke with a puncture
Meanwhile, Geschke's dreams of riding through Paris in the mountains jersey on Sunday are becoming more and more realistic. On Wednesday, the 36-year-old scored points again on the first climb and defended his lead in the classification. Geschke was unlucky on the second climb when he dropped back shortly before the summit due to a problem with his bike.
After that, the Berlin was caught up by the group of favourites. On Thursday it could be Geschke on on the way to Hautacam will be enough if he wins the first mountain classification on the legendary Col d'Aubisque.
"He needs one more good day. It would be a historic achievement," Geschke's team-mate Maximilian Walscheid told the ARD. The 29-year-old had to leave the tour on Tuesday with a positive corona test and was Geschke's room-mate until then. "He's handling the attention around him very well," said Walscheid.
Geschke's follower count alone at Instagram has risen by around 25 per cent due to the time in the mountain jersey. The battle for the green jersey is already over. Wout van Aert can no longer be caught in the classification and now only has to reach Paris.
Pogacar's team further decimated
Pogacar hopes this is the case for the rest of his team in particular. On Wednesday morning, he suffered the next serious setback with the cancellation of Rafal Majka. The Pole suffered a partial tear of his thigh muscle when his chain broke on the final climb the day before. In addition, the sick Spaniard Marc Soler fell outside the time limit and is out.
Another coronavirus case at the Tour de France
This leaves Pogacar with only one helper in the mountains in the US American McNulty. The Swiss Marc Hirschi and the Dane Mikkel Bjerg are more specialists for flat and hilly stages.
The Tour de France also reported the twelfth corona case. The Belgian Tim Wellens tested positive on Wednesday and has to leave the race. He had mild symptoms, his Lotto-Soudal racing team announced before the 17th stage. Wellens was a distant 121st in the overall standings.
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