Pogacar won the 219.9 kilometre longest stage of this Tour from Binche in Belgium to Longwy in a sprint ahead of Australian Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco) and the Frenchman David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ).
Van Aert loses yellow jersey to Pogacar
Pogacar thus ousted the Belgian Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) from first place overall. Van Aert had to let go after a long breakaway attempt ten kilometres before the finish. After a very fast opening phase of the stage, the Belgian rider and Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) and Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) was cancelled.
However, the group was not left far behind by the peloton. The attempt to defend the yellow jersey by jumping into a breakaway group backfired for van Aert. Around ten kilometres before the finish, the Belgian was caught by the peloton and passed.
Scary moment for Vlasov & Bora-Hansgrohe
A moment of shock Bora-Hansgrohe-captain Aleksandr Vlasov. He crashed in the hectic finale, but quickly caught up again and crossed the finish line five seconds behind Pogacar.
Around six kilometres before the end of the stage, Frenchman Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies). The Team UAE Emirates quickly led the peloton under the pace dictation of Pogacar's helper Rafal Majka. In the final kilometre, it was Primoz Roglic who took the sprint from a thinned-out group of favourites.
Pogacar the strongest in the sprint
However, it quickly became clear that Pogacar was no match for him on this day. The Tour de France winner from 2020 and 2021 came out on top ahead of Matthews and Gaudu. Behind them, Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) took the first five places of the stage.
After the longest section of the day, the favourites show their form at the first mountain finish on Friday. The seven-kilometre climb to La Super Planche des Belles Filles is a monster, especially at the end.
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Gradients of 20 and 24 per cent await, and the road is partially unpaved. The Planche is actually a ski slope and was discovered by the Tour organisers ten years ago and included in the programme for the first time.
Pogacar with fond memories of Planche des Belles Filles
Pogacar has very fond memories of the climb to the Planche des Belles Filles. After all, he took the yellow jersey from Primoz Roglic there shortly before the end of the Tour de France in 2020 and then celebrated his first overall victory in the Tour of France.
Chris Froome won the previous editions of the Tour de France at the Planche des Belles Filles in 2012, Vincenzo Nibali in 2014, Fabio Aru in 2017 and Dylan Teuns in 2019.
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