Tadej Pogacar moved closer to his third Tour de France victory by outsmarting his primary challenger, the reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard, to claim the second-to-last stage on Saturday. The Slovenian secured his fifth stage win this year by outsprinting Vingegaard in the final meters of the 132.8km mountain route from Nice, after the Dane ran out of energy while trying to solidify his second place overall in the closing kilometers. UAE Emirates rider Pogacar showed no mercy, staying in Vingegaard's slipstream in the final kilometers and accelerating 250 meters from the finish line.
"I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't be more pleased with another stage win," said Pogacar, who now boasts 16 Tour stage victories. "Just one more day and I think I'll enjoy it too. If you had told me this before the Tour, I wouldn't have believed it." Pogacar, who won the Tour in 2020 and 2021 but was overtaken by Vingegaard in the last two editions, now leads the Dane by five minutes and 14 seconds, with Belgian Remco Evenepoel in third place, another 2:50 behind.
It was a harsh conclusion for Vingegaard, who had aimed to gain time over Evenepoel, whose earlier attack in the Col de la Couillole proved ineffective. "Vingegaard demonstrated today that he's not easily broken and rode well," commented Pogacar. "Tomorrow, let's stay safe." The Tour concludes on Sunday with an individual time trial between Monaco and Nice, marking the first time in its 121-year history that it won't end in Paris due to the upcoming Olympic Games, starting on July 26 in the French capital.
Ecuador's Richard Carapaz, who participated in the day's breakaway and finished third on the stage with a bold performance, ensured he would take the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification, while Biniam Girmay of Eritrea secured the green jersey for the points classification. Evenepoel launched an attack 8 km from the finish but it was too short to hope for overtaking the defending champion in the general classification. Vingegaard later responded, and only Pogacar could keep up, leaving Evenepoel trailing. Pogacar was content to follow Vingegaard's wheel and then delivered a decisive burst of speed, leaving his strong rival to finish with his head down.
