Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia validated his superstar credentials, dominating Stage 6 at the Tour de France over the famed Col du Tourmalet climb on Thursday to retake the overall leader’s yellow jersey.
Pogacar’s 23rd stage victory at the Tour de France put him into fifth place all time and he did it in emphatic fashion by starting a breakaway with teammate Isaac del Toro of Mexico 5 kilometers from the summit of the Col du Tourmalet pass.
Pogacar split from his teammate near the top of the climb then rode the descent alone while pulling away over the final 40 kilometers. He opened a 2-minute, 42-second lead in the overall standings over rival Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark, who was the runner-up in the stage.
In third place on the day was del Toro, followed by Remco Evenepoel of Belgium and 19-year-old Paul Seixas of France. The United States’ Sepp Kuss finished in 10th place.
Race leader Torstein Traeen of Norway crashed in a turn on the descent when he overlapped wheels with a teammate, ending any chance of staying in the yellow jersey. Traeen eventually finished the stage but admitted to rib injuries after also hitting his helmet on the pavement.
Sean Quinn of the United States, who was in second in the overall standings at the start of Stage 6, struggled on the day and dropped to 12th place, 9:35 behind Pogacar. Traeen plummeted into 28th place, 22:12 off the lead.
Behind Pogacar and Vingegaard in the overall standings is de Toro, the winner of Stage 2, at 3:27 off the lead. Evenepoel sits in fourth, followed by Juan Ayuso of Spain and Seixas.
Stage 7 on Friday will highlight the sprinters on a relatively flat 175.1-kilometer route from Hagetmau, through wine country, before finishing in Bordeaux.
–Field Level Media
