Cycling: Tadej Pogacar is tireless. The Slovenian also wins the 19th stage of the Tour de France in the Isola 2000 ski resort and thus extends his lead in the overall ranking. This is already his fourth stage victory in this year's Tour de France.
Pogacar demonstrates his superiority
Many experts predicted that Tadej Pogacar (UAE) might falter in the third week of the Tour de France. But they were wrong. More than wrong. The Slovenian won today's 144,6-kilometer stage from Embrun to Isola 2000 after an extremely impressive performance. This marks his fourth stage victory in this year's Tour de France. Despite a very strong breakaway group, he let his teammates do the work all day before launching his own attack nine kilometers from the finish. The rest? A triumphant ride. Pogacar caught up with the leader, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma – Lease a Bike), dropped him, and rode to his next stage win. Behind him, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal – Quick-Step) had to settle for second and third place in the general classification. What other choice did they have?
Visma – Lease a Bike forms a strong breakaway group
Once again, well over 20 riders formed a breakaway group. However, due to the extremely challenging stage profile, only the strongest riders could stay at the front until the final climb. The five remaining riders – Richard Carapaz (EF Education – EasyPost), Simon Yates (Jayco – AlUla), Jai Hindley (Bora – hansgrohe), Wilco Kelderman (Visma – Lease a Bike), and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma – Lease a Bike) – were indeed extremely strong. Their lead at the foot of the climb to Isola 2000 was just over four minutes. However, UAE Team Emirates seemed determined not to let the breakaway group get away with it. Tadej Pogacar 's (UAE) teammates worked to gradually reduce the gap.
Küng ends the Tour de France prematurely
Due to the extremely demanding stage, several professionals again had to fight against the time limit today. Swiss rider Stefan Küng (Groupama – FDJ) and Dutchman Nils Eekhoff (dsm-firmenich PotNL) did not even start the 19th stage of the 2024 Tour de France. Jake Stewart (Israel – Premier Tech) abandoned the race.
Pogacar chases Jorgenson
Matteo Jorgenson (Visma – Lease a Bike) proved to be the strongest rider in the breakaway . The American attacked early on the final climb and dropped all his companions. Meanwhile, in the group of favorites, Tadej Pogacar (UAE) launched his attack with around nine kilometers to go, even though the Slovenian had two teammates , Adam Yates (UAE) and Joao Almeida (UAE), with him. Since the man in yellow also wanted to win today's stage, he had to go on the offensive so early with a deficit of almost three minutes. As expected, no one could follow him today either. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal – Quick-Step) knew that the yellow jersey was out of reach and that winning the Tour this year was a pipe dream. So today everything came down to the duel of the day between Pogacar and Jorgenson – with the better ending for the Slovenian, who thus further extends his lead in the overall standings.
There goes Tadej Pogacar! #TDF2024 : Peacock pic.twitter.com/k0iqeDLhCp
— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 19, 2024