Defending champion Tadej Pogacar of the UAE Emirates team launched a blistering attack on a late climb to win stage six of the Tour de France and reclaim the overall leader's yellow jersey on Thursday.
Pogacar attacked on a steep climb 500m from the finish and was a class above his key rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Adam Yates, who are now 31sec and 39sec behind him in the standings.On the way to his wins in the 2020 and 2021 Tours, Pogačar took the yellow jersey in the mountains, but on Thursday all he needed was the modest Côte des Religieuses hill in the border town of Longwy.
"It feels like the first time I had it, I wasn't expecting it today, it was a real battle," Pogacar said. A battle he seemed to win with relative ease however. The 23-year-old celebrated by repeatedly punching the air and is in prime position in his bid to win a third consecutive Tour de France.
The Slovenian took the yellow ahead of EF's American rider Nelson Powless thanks to the 10 bonus seconds on offer for the stage winner. He beat Australian Michael Matthews into second on the day while David Gaudu of FDJ was third and Briton Tom Pidcock fourth.
On his rookie Tour de France, Ineos rider Pidcock, 22, will wear the best under-26's white jersey Friday, although Pogacar leads him in those rankings.
Overnight leader Wout van Aert paraded the yellow jersey through Belgium before launching an eventually doomed but rampaging attack through 130km of rolling forest terrain before being caught 15km out.
Mountains on Friday
Van Aert will race Friday's stage in the green sprint points jersey instead and will have won many fans for his swashbuckling attitude. "I wanted to remember my last day in yellow," said Van Aert, who has a stage win and three second places to his name on the 2022 Tour. "I also wanted to give the fans something to remember me for. "It was an intense day but I'm happy to change jersey," he said after picking up the green one.
Magnus Cort Nielsen of Denmark retained the polka dot jersey he claimed on stage two and which saw him cheered wildly along the Danish roads. "I'll try and keep it one more day, but I've already given so much," said the EF rider.
On Friday the Tour takes on the terrible 24 percent gradient on the gravel climb to La Planche des Belles Filles in the Vosges mountains but the race leader seems undaunted. "My family will be there and my girlfriend will be waiting for me, so I cant wait," said Pogacar. "Tomorrow we enter the climbing part and we are in a good position to defend the yellow."
