Cycling: Tadej Pogacar drives in a completely different league at the Tour de France. On today's eighth stage, the Slovenian left all his competitors easily behind and will wear the yellow jersey from tomorrow. It shouldn't be enough just to win the stage. The Belgian Dylan Teuns celebrates this.
Pogacar races towards title defense as if unleashed
This guy is out of this world. Tadej Pogacar (UAE) left all his rivals in the dust on today's 150,8-kilometer stage from Oyonnax to Le Grand-Bornand. He launched his attack with over 30 kilometers to go. Initially, Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) was able to follow. But with the Slovenian's second attack, the Ecuadorian was also left behind. Like a freight train, last year's winner plowed up the Col de la Colombière in the rain. The gaps grew ever larger. And at the same time, he gradually reeled in the breakaway riders. He crested the hill in second place behind Dylan Teuns (Bahrain – Victorious). And the Belgian couldn't be caught on the descent either. This makes it a particularly successful stage for the Bahrain – Victorious and UAE teams. Second and third places in the day's standings went ahead of Pogacar to the breakaway riders Jon Izagirre (Astana – Premier Tech) and Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation), who were able to catch up again on the descent.
Cavendish, Thomas, Froome & Roglic left early
Although the challenging climbs of this stage weren't tackled until the end of the day, several prominent professionals were already shown their limits on the very first hill. Just a few kilometers after the start, Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick-Step), Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation), and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo – Visma) had to drop back from the peloton. As the stage progressed, a gruppetto formed around these four top stars, who then had to fight to make the time cut. [It is still unclear whether any riders missed the time limit.]
18 men in the leading group of the day
At the start of the stage, half the peloton tried to break away. Among them was Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Fenix), who once again launched an attack. This time, however, the overall leader in the yellow jersey wasn't allowed to get away so easily. Tadej Pogacar (UAE) was also briefly part of a breakaway group. But the competition was vigilant. After a long battle, 18 riders formed the day's breakaway, including Wout Poel (Bahrain – Victorious) , Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck – Quick-Step), Simon Yates (BikeExchange), Nairo Quintana (Arkéa – Samsic), Tiesj Benoot (DSM), Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation), Jon Izagirre (Astana – Premier Tech), Sepp Kuss (Jumbo – Visma), and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). Valverde, however, dropped back into the peloton shortly afterward – for reasons unknown. According to initial reports, the Spaniard was cold, so he put on several jackets.
Poels takes over the mountain jersey
Wout Poels (Bahrain – Victorious) initially put on a particularly strong showing in the breakaway group . The Dutchman won the first mountain classifications, thus taking the polka dot jersey from his teammate Matej Mohoric (Bahrain – Victorious). Incidentally, we can be thankful that the Côte de Saxonnex could even be ridden today. A truck was stuck on the first-category climb and couldn't be removed until the Tour caravan was already underway. After that, Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) turned on the afterburners. The Canadian seemed to have overextended himself, because Dylan Teuns (Bahrain – Victorious) closed the gap on the final climb and even overtook him. Only because the Belgian reached the summit first – and, more importantly, ahead of Woods – did the polka dot jersey remain with his team.
Teuns celebrates the stage win
In the peloton, UAE Team Emirates felt obligated to act. The pace increased so drastically on the penultimate climb that only a few riders remained. Even leader Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) could no longer keep up. The group of favorites finally shattered when Tadej Pogacar (UAE) launched his attack with over 30 kilometers to go. Apart from Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), no one could follow. But even the Ecuadorian eventually had to let the exceptional Slovenian go. Later, he was even caught by the group of favorites. Tadej Pogacar, on the other hand, rode unleashed up the final climb, picking off one breakaway rider after another. Only Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Victorious) eluded him, as Teuns managed to defend his narrow lead on the descent. In the final meters, Jon Izagirre (Astana – Premier Tech) and Michael Woods even sprinted past him. But the Slovenian probably didn't care much. After this performance, the 2021 Tour victory can only go to him.
Dylan Teuns won an opnieuw a rit in the Ronde van Frankrijk: in La Planche des Belles Filles in 2019 comes his vandaag solo in Le Grand-Bornand! 🇧🇪 #TDF #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/AEYnZ13add
— Sporza 🚴 (@sporza_koers) July 3, 2021