Pogacar secured Slovenia’s first Tour de France victory after the Roglic collapse – VG

57 seconds separated the two Slovenes before the 20th stage, where a pace of 36.2 kilometers was to decide who ran away with the victory.

The pace ended up at La Planche des Belles Filles (5.9 kilometers at 8.5 percent), and at the bottom of the hill, Pogacar had reduced the lead to 21 seconds.

Thus, it was time for a highly dramatic end, but it became clear early in the climb that Pogacar crushed all the competitors and Roglic finished barely two minutes behind Pogacar on the stage.

– That is the wildest thing I have been involved in, said TV 2 commentator Christian Paasche.

– I think I’m dreaming. I do not know what to say. It’s incredible, says Pogacar in the victory interview, before Roglic comes over and gives a victory hug to the compatriot.

– I am very proud of the team. Wearing the yellow jersey on the last day was a dream, and we managed it, he continues.

Pogacar is now 59 seconds ahead of Roglic in the summary.

– Is this a childhood dream?

– In fact, my dream was to participate in the Tour de France. Now I’m here and have only the last leg left. It’s amazing, says Pogacar.

In the Jumbo-Visma camp, of course, there was less joy to be traced.

– It hurts to see Primoz struggle that way. I saw another Primoz on the bike a regular. Losing it on the last day is very tough, says teammate Wout van Aert in an interview shown on TV 2.

– I think it would have been even if Primoz had had a good day, but the fact that he ends up behind me, shows that it is not his best pace. Had he been at his normal level, he would never have lost more than one minute to Pogacar, Van Aert believes.

– I’m obviously disappointed. I gave everything I could on the bike, but the result was as it was, says Roglic in an interview with WE, and says that Pogacar really deserved the victory.

Pogacar is thus the second youngest Tour de France winner in history, beaten only by Henri Cornet, who was 19 years old when he won the second edition of the Tour de France in 1904.

Pogacar also wins the youth jersey and the climbing jersey and thus won his third stage in this year’s Tour de France with the victory at the decisive pace stage.

Now only the charm stage remains to Paris on Sunday, where Pogacar will lead the team first together with, among others, teammates Alexander Kristoff and Vegard Stake Laengen. Edvald Boasson Hagen, Kurt Asle Arvesen and Atle Kvålsvoll are the three other Norwegians who have been on a winning team in the Tour de France before.

– It’s fat. I never thought I would experience being on the winning team, so we will enjoy tomorrow and make the best of it, says Kristoff to TV 2 from the car on the way to Paris for the final leg.

Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) climbed to third place overall after finishing third on the pace.

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Roglic was the first Slovenian to win a stage in the Tour de France, something he did when he won the 17th stage in 2017. Roglic was then in full swing in the cycling world, after he first became a professional at the age of 26 years.

Previously, Roglic was a promising ski jumper, with gold in the team competition in the junior WC in 2007, but it is as a cyclist that the Slovenian has really reached the world top.

Roglic also won a stage in 2018 and was then number four overall in the Tour. Last year he took one big victory after another, and won his first three-week race when he took the victory in the Vuelta a España.

There, Tadej Pogacar also impressed by becoming number three, and it is the two Slovenes who have proven to be the two strongest riders in this year’s Tour de France.

It has also led to several new Slovenian stage victories, with stage victory for Roglic (ahead of Pogacar) on the fourth stage, while Pogacar won three stages. In addition, Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) has two second places from this year’s race, in what has been an almost perfect edition of the Tour de France for the country with just over two million inhabitants.