The motorcycle prevents a jolt at the dramatic end of the stage: – It’s like shooting
Saturday’s short but tough hilly stage offers a final play between the overall favorites in the Tour de France.
With 15.5 kilometers remaining, Tadej Pogacar (UAE) made a push, and Jonas Vingegaard was unable to keep up. The Dane seemed to be parked, but then Vingegaard brought the Slovene back after two kilometers.
After that, everything went smoothly. Pogacar attempted to move 500 meters up, but was prevented by a motorcycle blocking his path. In contrast, Denmark secured 20 important points.
– Absolutely no chance. They should keep their distance further!, exclaimed TV 2 commentator Christian Paasche.
– Jonas (Vingegaard) and Pogacar had to brake because the motorbikes couldn’t get past the audience. It is deeply regretted. It has now come to a point where you should consider putting up a public barrier within the last 3-4 kilometers of the climb, Jumbo-Visma boss Richard Plugge told the press.
Pogacar himself told French TV he was ready to give it his all when he was prevented:
– I said to myself that I would give everything on the Joux Plane, but there are motorcycles. It was like shooting, but there you go, I’ll try again later.
It wasn’t long before both Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos) and Adam Yates (UAE) were favorites again and the Spaniard was gone.
Rodriguez’s move endured and for the second day in a row the Ineos team took the stage win.
Pogacar was second, while Vingegaard was third. Nevertheless, the Dane retained the overall jersey, 10 seconds ahead of the Slovene.
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