July 5, 2024
Pogačar retains yellow after 2nd place in time trial
Only the time trial World Champion Remco Evenepoel covered the course faster than Tadej Pogačar during the 25,3 km against the clock from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin at the Tour de France.
The UAE Team Emirates captain completed his performance in 29’04” (average speed of 52,2 km/h), while the Belgian marked the time of 28’52”.
Pogačar succeeded in pedaling with an effective pace, covering perfectly the only downhill of the course, so he could finish off a better performance then other GC contenders such as Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora, +22”) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a bike, +25”). Eighth place went to Joao Almeida (+57”).
General classification after the time trial stage: Tadej still leader with 33” on Evenepoel and 1’15” on Vingegaard.
Stage 8 will bring the peloton on a 183,4 km hilly course from Semur en Auxois to Colombey les Deux Eglises.
Pogačar: “I started my time trial pretty well, feeling very good legs, and then went pretty hard on the climb. I think I was a bit too cooked at its summit, and that affected me towards the final. I didn’t know the exact gaps, but I got some nice encouraging words from the team car.
I am pretty happy that I crossed the finish line in the position I did. I already did two good time trials at the Giro, yet I rate this performance somehow higher as I only lost to the current World Champion by just a few seconds and was still above some tough guys like Primoz [Roglic] and Jonas [Vingegaard]. I think the TT in Nice should be nice for me too, as I know the roads quite well. Last year I lost 1’40” to Jonas and today I’ve beaten him by 25” – that’s pretty good. But Remco showed pretty good shape, too. I hope I can put some time on him in the coming stages.”
Tour de France, stage 7 results
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) 28’52”
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) +12”
- Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora) +34”
Tour de France, GC after stage 7
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 27h16’23”
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) +33”
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a bike) +1’15”
