Pogacar wins Tour de France stage 13, extends his big lead

Photo: AP

Tadej Pogacar, who is from Slovenia and is only 26 years old, has shown once again why he is one of the best cyclists in the world. On Friday, he won his fourth stage of this year’s Tour de France. This means he has now won four stages in this year’s race alone, and there are still many more stages left to ride.

Winning Stage 13 After Stage 12 Victory

Just one day before, on Thursday, Pogacar won stage 12. That win helped him to take back the yellow jersey, which is given to the overall leader of the Tour de France. But Pogacar did not stop there. On Friday, he raced again in stage 13 and showed everyone how strong he is. Stage 13 was a special stage called a mountain time trial.

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What is a Mountain Time Trial?

A mountain time trial is a type of race where each cyclist starts alone and rides against the clock. They do not ride together like in normal stages. Instead, riders start at two-minute intervals, one after another. The goal is to finish the route in the fastest time possible.

In this stage, the route was 10.9 kilometres long. It started from a place called Loudenvielle and finished at the Peyragudes airfield in the Pyrenees mountains. This stage was very hard because it included steep climbs, with some parts having a 16% gradient, which means the road was very steep and hard to pedal.

Pogacar’s Incredible Time

Pogacar completed this difficult route in exactly 23 minutes. This was an amazing time because it was 36 seconds faster than his main rival, Jonas Vingegaard from Denmark. With this win, Pogacar has now increased his overall lead in the race to four minutes and seven seconds over Vingegaard.

Remco Evenepoel Faces Trouble

Another strong rider in this year’s Tour de France is Remco Evenepoel from Belgium. He is the world and Olympic champion in time trials. Many people thought he would win this stage. However, Evenepoel had some bad luck. During his ride, he had a small mechanical issue with his bike, which distracted him. This problem slowed him down.

On the final steep climb, Jonas Vingegaard managed to catch up with Evenepoel and pass him just 50 metres before the finish line. Even though Evenepoel finished two minutes and 39 seconds slower than Pogacar, he managed to hold on to his third position in the general classification. But now, he is more than seven minutes behind Pogacar.

Other Riders Who Did Well

Primoz Roglic, who is also from Slovenia, finished third in this stage. A young British cyclist, Oscar Onley, also did very well. He gained 29 seconds over Kevin Vauquelin from France, which helped him move up to fifth place in the overall standings.

Pogacar’s Career Wins and Records

This latest stage win brings Pogacar’s total number of stage wins in the Tour de France to 21. Last year, he won six stages when he reclaimed the Tour title from Vingegaard. Because of his amazing record, Pogacar is now sixth on the all-time list of stage winners. The person with the most stage wins is Sir Mark Cavendish from Britain, who has 35 wins. There are still eight more stages left in this year’s race, so Pogacar might win more.

Pogacar Shares His Feelings After The Win

After winning the stage, Pogacar said, “I am super happy. This time trial was something I was thinking about since December. I wanted everything to be perfect today. I tried to go full power from start to finish. At the end, I almost felt like I was going to explode because it was so hard, but when I saw the timer at the top, I knew I was going to win, and it gave me extra energy to push until the finish.”

How Other Riders Performed

Luke Plapp, who is the Australian time-trial champion, set an early fast time. For a long time, no rider could beat his time. But then Pogacar, Vingegaard, and Roglic came and finished faster than him.

The 8-kilometre climb at the end was very tough for all riders. It had an average gradient of 7.8%, but the last 300 metres were extremely hard with a 16% gradient. Many riders struggled to keep their speed up on this steep finish.

Vingegaard Feels Better After Tough Day

Jonas Vingegaard, who finished second, said after the race, “Yesterday was probably one of my worst performances, but today was one of my best. It feels good to come back like this.”

Different Bikes For Time Trial

During this stage, some riders like Vingegaard and Evenepoel chose to use special time-trial bikes that are designed for speed on flat roads. But Pogacar chose to ride his road bike, which is better for climbing steep hills. This helped him a lot because the final climb was very steep. Pogacar was the fastest at both time-check points and finished strongly to win the stage.

What is Next for The Riders?

After finishing this hard mountain time trial on Friday, the riders are not getting any rest yet. On Saturday, they will have to ride another very tough mountain stage. This stage will be 182.6 kilometres long, starting from Pau and finishing with a big climb at Luchon-Superbagneres.

Stage 13 Top 10 Results

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) – 23 minutes

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark) +36 seconds

3. Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) +1 minute 20 seconds

4. Florian Lipowitz (Germany) +1 minute 56 seconds

5. Luke Plapp (Australia) +1 minute 58 seconds

6. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) +2 minutes 3 seconds

7. Oscar Onley (Great Britain) +2 minutes 6 seconds

8. Adam Yates (Great Britain) +2 minutes 15 seconds

9. Lenny Martinez (France) +2 minutes 21 seconds

10. Felix Gall (Austria) +2 minutes 22 seconds

General Classification After Stage 13

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) – 45 hours 45 minutes 51 seconds

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark) +4 minutes 7 seconds

3. Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) +7 minutes 24 seconds

4. Florian Lipowitz (Germany) +7 minutes 30 seconds

5. Oscar Onley (Great Britain) +8 minutes 11 seconds

6. Kevin Vauquelin (France) +8 minutes 15 seconds

7. Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) +8 minutes 50 seconds

8. Tobias Johannessen (Norway) +10 minutes 36 seconds

9. Felix Gall (Austria) +11 minutes 43 seconds

10. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) +14 minutes 15 seconds

This year’s Tour de France has been very exciting so far. Pogacar is showing everyone that he is in top form and ready to win again. But there are still eight more stages to go, and anything can happen in cycling. Fans around the world are waiting to see who will wear the yellow jersey in Paris at the end.