.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "Tour de France 2021: Tadej Pogačar also overshadowed the Alps, what did he say after the 8th stage?")
LE GRAND-BORNAND, BRATISLAVA. When he was ahead of one rider after another, his opponents looked like hobby cyclists who decided to climb an alpine hill just for fun.
Tadej Pogačar went to his own race. At a captivating pace that no one was able to do.
The Slovenian young man from the UAE Emirates team started the day as the fifth driver in the overall standings Tour de France with a loss of almost four minutes to leader Mathieu van der Poel. At the end of Saturday’s stage, he already wore a yellow jersey for the race leader with great reserve.
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And after what he showed, it is very likely that he will keep it until the finish in Paris. Although the Tour has only eight stages and cyclists have two more challenging weeks to go.
“It was a cosmic performance,” repeated Czech Television commentators.
“Pogačar blew up a group of favorites. He showed an overwhelming dominance that the Tour de France has apparently not seen since the beginning of the millennium. ” wrote the specialized website CyclingNews.
Pogačar: Let’s shake the race
Saturday was the first serious test for the riders in the overall standings. The first mountain stage with three alpine climbs of the first category was waiting for the peloton.
But the plot, who will be the strongest driver of the race, was solved by Pogačar very quickly.
“I felt great, so before the last two climbs I told my teammates – let’s try it and shake the race,” Pogačar described for the Tour website.
And he shook them hard.
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From the group of favorites, he attacked on the penultimate climb of the day thirty kilometers before the finish. Only Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz from the Ineos team caught his start. Even for a moment.
After that, Pogačar stepped on the pedals alone and gradually overtook the riders from previous escapes.
“I saw that the climb is really difficult and everyone is suffering. So I attacked and tried to keep up the pace until the finish, “said the 22-year-old Slovenian.
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