Pogacar wins stage six and retakes Tour de France yellow jersey

PARIS: Defending champion Tadej Pogacar tightened his grip on the Tour de France on Thursday by winning the sixth stage in the Pyrenees and taking back the yellow jersey from Torstein Traeen, whose race later ended after a crash left him with concussion.

Pogacar completed the 186km route from Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre ahead of his main challenger Jonas Vingegaard, who finished second and climbed to second place overall. The Slovenian now leads Vingegaard by 2min 42sec. UAE Emirates-XRG rider Isaac Del Toro beat Remco Evenepoel in the sprint for third place on the stage, moving above the Olympic champion into third overall at 3:27.

Speaking after the win, Pogacar said he had been eager for the stage from the start of the day.

Today I woke up at seven in the morning already and my mind was going crazy so I was really really excited for today,

He added:

All the guys (his team-mates) were really hyped so I knew it would be a good day. We just committed, we were going like nothing to lose. If we explode, they explode but in the end we succeeded and I'm super proud.

Traeen began the day in yellow but lost contact with the leading riders before halfway up the punishing Tourmalet, with around 50 kilometres still remaining. Any realistic chance of keeping the jersey disappeared there, and his problems worsened when he crashed heavily on the descent. It was his second crash in two days. After lengthy treatment, he crossed the line about half an hour behind the stage winner.

His Uno-X Mobility team later said he had suffered a concussion and several fractured ribs and would withdraw from the race. Team general manager Thor Hushovd said:

This is really not the ending we wanted for this yellow adventure,

Pogacar attacks on the Tourmalet

On another very hot day in southwestern France, with temperatures again reaching 40C, UAE Emirates-XRG set a strong pace over the Col d'Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet. Pogacar launched his decisive move around 4km from the top of the Tourmalet and quickly distanced his rivals.

At the summit, he held a 30-second advantage over Vingegaard, while Paul Seixas, Florian Lipowitz and Del Toro were another minute back. Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso followed in a smaller group a further 20 seconds behind.

Over the descent and the final long but less severe climb to the finish, Pogacar steadily increased his lead. Vingegaard limited the damage as best he could, while the two chasing groups behind joined up but did not work together effectively enough to cut the gap.

Vingegaard said the stage had not unfolded as he had hoped.

It was a very tough day, not the day I wanted obviously, but that's how it is sometimes,

He added:

They put a big attack in the Tourmalet and I couldn't follow, I had to set my own pace. Over the top I wasn't that far but a downhill like this isn't really suited for me.

Despite the setback, the two-time Tour winner said he remained confident.

I still believe in myself. My legs will get better throughout the race, the fight is not over.

Relentless pace on the climbs

Earlier in the stage, Australian rider Ben O'Connor attacked on his own with a little more than 100km remaining after a fast opening and a hard battle to get into the breakaway. French President Emmanuel Macron was watching from one of the official cars following the race, but O'Connor's move was short-lived as UAE brought him back.

On the Col d'Aspin, the team's pace proved too strong for French rider Alex Baudin, who had started the day in the King of the Mountains jersey. By the end of the stage, that jersey was on Pogacar's shoulders. American Sean Quinn and Czech rider Mathias Vacek, who had begun the day second and third overall, were also dropped, while Traeen initially managed to stay in contact.

On the 17km Tourmalet, the most frequently used climb in Tour history and one that rises above 2,100 metres, Traeen was the next to lose touch. It was the first hors-category climb of this year's race, and once Pogacar's team had reduced the group, his attack proved decisive.