Tadej Pogacar reaches special milestone: "Very nice, especially after a sprint against Mathieu van der Poel"

In the final sprint, Van der Poel looked set for his second stage win after Visma | Lease a Bike ensured Pogacar couldn’t ride away on the last climb and UAE made sure Matteo Jorgenson (Visma) didn’t get clear either. The yellow jersey wearer opened his sprint from the front but saw Pogacar come past. “Was I at my limit? Yes, everyone was at their limit today,” Pogacar said afterwards in the flash interview.

The world road champion had already attacked earlier on the Rampe Saint-Hilaire (800 meters at 9.4%), the last real climb of the day. “I tried,” the stage winner reflected. “Jonas (Vingegaard, ed.) could still follow. Then everything came back together. João (Almeida, ed.) did an amazing job with the lead-out for me while everyone was attacking. I’m super proud of the team. I have no words for it, it’s really a beautiful win.”

And as mentioned, it wasn’t just any win. Pogacar has now reached his 100th career victory and that wearing the rainbow jersey. Let's not forget he's only 26. “Winning in the Tour is fantastic already, but to do it in this jersey and for it to be my 100th, it’s really amazing. With so many strong riders in the finale, you never know what will happen,” beamed the Slovenian, who, thanks to his attack on the final climb, somewhat accidentally took back the polka dot jersey from his teammate Tim Wellens.

Pogacar will start Wednesday’s time trial in the polka dot jersey and from there will be dreaming of yellow. He and Van der Poel are tied on time, but Van der Poel keeps the yellow firmly around his shoulders thanks to his slightly better results so far. “We’ll see tomorrow, that’s the real test. But to win already in this jersey is nice. Still, I’m looking forward to the yellow jersey,” Pogacar concluded, his mind clearly set on yellow. In the backstage area, he was even caught signing a yellow jersey by mistake, before quickly being reminded that it still belonged to Van der Poel.

Anyone who saw his glow could tell he’d enjoyed his day. “It was more like a classic, very explosive,” Pogacar said. “I had so much adrenaline in the finale and there were constant attacks, which was really cool. It was fun, this punchy day. But the real test will come in the time trial and of course in the mountains afterwards, although we already have an idea of each other’s form.”

“So far the Tour is going really well, and hopefully we can keep this up as a team,” the stage winner said in his (short) press conference. He also refused to name only Vingegaard as his rival. “I think Remco Evenepoel has the perfect time trial for him coming up and can still improve in this Tour. He’s the best time trialist in the world and will go full gas, just like me, and then we’ll see where we stand. And there are still other riders we shouldn’t underestimate.”

For Pogacar (26), this was already his 18th Tour de France stage win, bringing his total career wins to 100. Which was his favorite? “I still remember my first very well, a stage in the Tour of Algarve (in 2019, ed.). That felt incredible to me, and even after a hundred wins, it still feels that way. Especially in a stage like this, sprinting against Mathieu van der Poel,” he finished.