The Slovenian cyclist attacked in the eighth stage and left the competition behind.
Tadej Pujacar (UAE) refused to judge the Tour de France, having led by five minutes from the competition, assuming he might be their biggest rival in the 108th edition.
“I haven’t judged the Tour, it’s still a long way to go, anything can happen. Today, you’ve made an important difference, maybe others will do the same tomorrow,” she highlighted the new yellow jersey, which finished fourth in the eighth stage and won by Belgian Dylan. Tunisia (Muntasir Bahrain).
The 22-year-old Slovenian explained that he decided to tighten the race and then attack, more than 30 kilometers from the finish, when he realized that the INEOS climbers led by Ecuadorean Richard Carapaz “were not at their best”.
The defending champion confirmed, predicting that as of Sunday, “In Friday’s stage, everyone raced against us, and today I was expecting it to be the same. I realized I had to attack, because the best defense is to attack.” Try to buy you time every day.
When asked if he could be his biggest opponent in the final win, Boogie laughed and said, “Yeah, maybe yes.”
The Slovenian leads the overall standings against Belgium’s Wut van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), who now holds second place with a time of 01.48 minutes, and Kazakhstan’s Alexei Lutsenko (Astana), who moved up to third, at 04.38, but has a great contender. Like Rigoberto ran (EF Education-Nippo), Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), Carapaz, Wilco Kelderman (Bora-hansgrohe) and Enric Mas (Movistar), five minutes away.
“A tough day at the ‘office,'” wrote Carapaz, who is now sixth in the general standings, at 05.01, “but there is still a long way to go until Paris. We are still fighting.”
Pogacar, who started the eighth stage in fifth place, “inherited” Mathieu van der Poel’s yellow card (Alpecin-Fenix), after the Dutchman plunged into the second of three first classes for 150.8 kilometers between Oyonnax and Le Grand-Bornand, losing more than 20 A minute on the Slovenian goal.
The 26-year-old explained, “Today was very difficult, and the pace was very high. I reached the finish line at my own pace.”
He fulfilled his dream of wearing yellow on his first tour appearance, in memory of his grandfather, the legendary “Eternal Second” Raymond Poulidor, Van der Poel will now reflect, during the day of rest, scheduled for Monday, about his continued competition, since his big goal for this season is Olympic Gold Medal in Olympic Cross Country (XCO) in Tokyo 2020.
“I enjoyed this yellow jersey, including today. I never thought I would be able to defend it for so long,” said the MVDP, who finished top of the overall standings last Sunday thanks to the win over the Brittany wall.
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