Satisfied Pogacar reflects after first blow to Vingegaard: "We had our own plan, but Visma…"

UAE Emirates-XRG had already made the race tough in the intense heat, but the way Pogacar finished it was impressive. He accelerated without getting up from the saddle—as we see more often—away from the last rider who could follow him, in this case, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike). No one saw Pogi again, so the world champion beat his closest rival, Vingegaard, by just over a minute.

"We had our plan, but Visma started going full throttle on the first category climb," Pogacar said after the race in the flash interview. "Before the start, I didn't know much about that climb, but I'm sure I've done it before. It brought back memories of good times," said the stage winner about the Côte du Mont-Saxonnex.

A very impressive UAE again backed Pogacar on Friday. "The team was excellent today. Pavel and Johnny (Sivakov and Narváez, ed.) were incredible today. The whole team was really strong today. I felt good, so we decided to go for it from the start of the final climb, on the steepest part. We had nothing to lose and everything to gain."

"At the end of the day, it is what it is," Pogacar continued. "It was a very tough and, above all, very hot day. I also had to hurry to see Urska (Zigart, ed.) finish in the Tour de Suisse, so I was just in time," laughed the world champion at the top of the final climb.

Pogacar gained over a minute on his rival Vingegaard, which the Slovenian was very happy with. "I felt really good. When I attacked, it was an all-out effort. I knew it would be another fifteen minutes from the Côte de Domancy to the top. So I had to watch my speed a bit after my attack, but the feeling was there, and my legs were working well. It was to my advantage to be in front and gain time. A minute is good, and I'm pleased with that."

With his dominant victory, Pogacar certainly washed away the bitter aftertaste of Wednesday's somewhat disappointing time trial. "That was definitely a concern because it matters when I lose time in the time trial. Improving in that area is a challenge for me and the team. Still, I'm in good shape, and my legs are there, so we just have to keep the momentum going for the Tour," the Slovenian concluded in the flash interview.

At CyclingPro, Pogacar went into more detail about Friday's stage. "We didn't see any weakness among the favorites today. A few riders had to let go of the first category climb. Still, we had a plan for the final climb, although that plan almost went out the window because Visma pulled away earlier. We got back together and could do what we came here to do. I'm very happy with that."

Ultimately, the difference between him and Vingegaard was exactly one minute and one second, although even Pogi had not expected that. "I certainly didn't expect the difference to be that big. I expected two or three riders to keep up with me and even attack me. So, I really tried to focus on the steep part and then accelerate on the easier part. You can't do that if you don't have the legs, so I'm glad I had them. I can now relax for the rest of the weekend."

The final weekend will feature some challenging mountain stages, but Pogacar doesn't seem too concerned. "A lot can happen tomorrow, but that doesn't matter much anymore. My teammates and I were in good shape, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. We'll try to survive and defend the yellow jersey, but we know it will be difficult. They are tough and long climbs, and, of course, we don't have a real climbing team, although we saw that they were all in good shape. I'm quite confident that we can defend the yellow jersey tomorrow."