Tour de France on'horizon, Tadej Pogacar dottes the i’s and t’s

If he had seemed almost underwhelming in the Saint-Péray time trial, the one seen on the climb to Combloux, the finish line of the sixth stage of the Tour of the Dauphiné, is a Tadej Pogacar much more like the “cannibal” version that fans and insiders have come to know. The Slovenian took the stage and yellow jersey in one fell swoop, answering to rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, who like him are at the Criterium to prepare for the Tour de France that will start next July 5.

“I’m super happy to be back in the yellow jersey – said Pogacar on the sidelines of a triumphant day, which saw him ahead by 1’01” Vingegaard, snatching the jersey from Evenepoel who instead finished fifth at 1’50” -It was a really good day for us. I am getting very good responses from this Tour of the Dauphiné. I was not too worried after the time trial, the form is there”.

With two stages to go before the conclusion of the Criterium, Pogacar is first in the overall standings with a total time of 21h35’08”: behind him the closest is Vingegaard, who is chasing at 43″ while in third place is German Florian Lipowitz, who pays 54″ compared to the Slovenian champion. Remco Evenepoel slipped instead to fourth place, 1’22” behind Pogacar.

Prestigious race that traverses the historic Dauphiné region, the Criterium experienced its first edition in 1947, with the victory of Pole Edward Klabinski. Curiously, no Italian has ever managed to win the Tour of Dauphiné: they came close, finishing second overall, Gino Sciardis in the inaugural edition and Francesco Moser in 1975. The race holder is Primoz Roglic, who is absent this year.