Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Tadej Pogacar produced a stunning attack on the final climb to Cauterets-Cambasque as he soloed clear of defending champion Jonas Vingegaard to win stage six of the Tour de France.
It was a superb response from Pogacar, who lost over a minute to Vingegaard in Thursday’s first day in the Pyrenees.
The two-time winner is now second overall, 25 seconds behind Vingegaard in the general classification.
Vingegaard took the leader’s yellow jersey from Australia’s Jai Hindley.
Hindley fell to third in the overall GC standings having been dropped on the penultimate climb up the iconic Col du Tourmalet, and eventually finishing sixth.
The Bora-hansgrohe rider was two minutes and 39 seconds down on Pogacar in a group containing Britain’s Simon Yates and Spanish rider Carlos Rodriguez.
Yates and brother Adam, plus fellow Englishman Tom Pidcock, all sit in the top 10 of the general classification after a gruelling day which saw the race travel 144.9km from Tarbes to the summit finish at Cauterets-Cambasque.
‘It’s going to be a big battle until the last stage’
It was a stage that saw Pogacar deliver a sensational response to set up a potentially epic duel between himself and Vingegaard over the 15 remaining stages of cycling’s greatest race.
“I would not say it’s revenge but it feels sweet to win and to take some time back,” Pogacar said.
“I feel a little bit relieved, I feel much better now.
“The display Jonas [Vingegaard] showed yesterday was incredible and I was thinking when they started to pull on the Tourmalet, I thought, ‘if it’s going to happen like yesterday we can pack our bags and go home’.
“Luckily I had good legs today and I could follow on the Tourmalet. I felt quite comfortable and when I felt it was the right moment in the end I attacked and it was a big relief.
“I would say now it’s almost the perfect gap and it’s going to be a big battle until the last stage I think.”
On Wednesday the Slovenian had appeared to be suffering from the effects of his long injury lay-off as he lost significant time to Vingegaard and dropped to sixth overall.
And when Jumbo-Visma raised the tempo for the Dane to attack on the Tourmalet, scattering what was left of the main peloton, it appeared as though Vingegaard was attempting to utilise identical tactics.
But having resisted his rival’s attack near the top of that 17.1km ascent, Pogacar patiently sat on his wheel before launching an unanswerable move of his own 2.8km from the line.
As he accelerated clear, he opened up a gap of seven and then 10 seconds, gradually increasing it until by the finish line he had cut his arrears in half to leave the race delicately poised.
Friday sees the Tour travel 169.9km from Mont-de-Marsan to Bordeaux, with a sprint finish expected and an opportunity for Mark Cavendish to potentially set the outright record for stage wins he currently shares with Belgian legend Eddy Merckx on 34.
Stage six results
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 3hrs 54mins 27secs
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) +24secs
3. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X) +1min 22secs
4. Ruben Guerreiro (Por/Movistar) +2mins 06secs
5. James Shaw (GB/EF Education-EasyPost) +2mins 15secs
6. Jai Hindley (Aus/Bora-hansgrohe) +2mins 39secs
7. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) Same time
8. Simon Yates (GB/Team Jayco-AlUla)
9. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +3mins 11secs
10. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM) Same time
General classification after stage six
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) 26hrs 10mins 44secs
2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +25secs
3. Jai Hindley (Aus/Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 34secs
4. Simon Yates (GB/Team Jayco-AlUla) + 3mins 14secs
5. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) + 3mins 30secs
6. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +3mins 40secs
7. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +4mins 03secs
8. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM) +4mins 42secs
9. Thomas Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) Same time
10. Sepp Kuss (US/Jumbo-Visma) +5mins 28secs