The 'cannibal' Tadej Pogacar wins almost effortlessly, because the stars align in his favor and an unexpected stage with the Tour already decided is handed to his unstoppable dominance. "Are you worried about your popularity?" they ask him in the press room regarding his poker hand (six stage wins in the Giro, no one had achieved at least five in both races in the same year), about being a 'bully', about defeating the already beaten Jonas Vingegaard once again. "Sprinters don't miss the opportunity to win. If you can, you have to go for the victory always. I get paid for it," argues the rider who has worn the leader's jersey 38 times between the Giro and the Tour, one more than Eddy Merckx in his 1970 double.
His explanation is sufficient and the facts support him. To have eased off at the finish line of Col de la Couillole for Jonas would have been humiliating for the respected and feared rival. "We wanted to take it easy until the end, but Team Soudal wanted to try to gain time on Vingegaard or go for the stage win... and in the end, that played into my favor," continues the leader, who now only awaits the time trial in Nice hoping for a smooth ride, without any surprises, to be able to celebrate his reconquest. "A stage win and the yellow jersey would have been enough, to be honest. But in cycling, you don't hold back."
"In a way, I was hoping Pogacar would give me the stage win. But the race was tough, I knew I didn't stand a chance in the sprint, I was at my limit. I don't blame him at all. Probably, I would have done the same," Vingegaard admits, feeling empty after giving his all to distance Evenepoel and recovering from Friday's stage, which was "one of my worst days on the bike."
They were the protagonists of the day, once again. But there were two other riders who also caught the spotlight. Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz were the last ones from the breakaway, swallowed up with two kilometers to go by the Vingegaard-led train. The Ecuadorian (having a memorable Tour by wearing yellow, winning a stage, and securing the mountain classification) and the Spaniard didn't cooperate, battling it out on the final climb, unable to neutralize each other and failing to maintain the gap with their pursuers.
It has been a different Tour for the Balearic rider, always under criticism. "I get paid to fight for the overall classification, so we will go for it in La Vuelta," he predicted on French television, where he appeared after winning the most combative rider award of the day, attacking from the start. He explained that he and Carapaz were "like cat and mouse" and that there was "little cooperation" in the 10-rider breakaway group. "In any case, we came close to victory," he concluded. Stripped of the fight for the top positions in the Tour - he will battle Meintjes for 19th place in the final time trial - his third week has been about attacking, finishing third in Superdévoluy, and fifth yesterday. But brave in the end. After abandoning the last two Tours, he leaves this time with a less bitter taste. "I have enjoyed this stage and this Tour, discovering a completely different cycling than what I had experienced before. I have been able to help my teammates: Gavirira in the sprints, others in breakaways... and today they helped me," he admitted.
This Sunday, the final time trial from Monaco to Nice (almost 34 kilometers, quite challenging, including a Category 2 climb, La Turbie), has little left to decide. The podium is set, and the battle for the fourth place that Mikel Landa was aiming for was defended by Almeida. Carlos Rodríguez, below expectations, needs to make up a second on Adam Yates to finish