There are still plenty of battles raging on as the Tour de France heads into its final stages.
Cor Vos
As Tadej Pogačar jumped onto Jonas Vingegaard’s wheel on the Col de la Madeleine on Wednesday, it became even clearer: The UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader has his fourth career Tour de France title almost sewn up. With only one mountain stage in the three days left at this race and a big gap between Pogačar and his Visma-Lease a Bike rival, it’s hard to see the yellow jersey changing hands at this point.
Fortunately for the rest of us, the Tour de France still has plenty left to give. Yellow might be all but secure on Pogačar’s shoulders, but what about polka dots? And how about this fight we have on our hands for the final spot on the GC podium – or the tangential Red Bull classification?
Let’s take a closer look at the big battles that are still being waged as the Tour nears its conclusion.
The polka dot jersey battle: Pogačar vs. the breakaway?
Let’s get the most straightforward one out of the way first. As ever, the battle for the mountains classification at the Tour de France comes down to the actual best climbers in the race (Pogačar and Vingegaard) and the climbers who are good at getting into breakaways. After finishing second on the Col de la Loze, Pogačar now has a 16-point lead over Vingegaard in the classification, and the Dane is the bookies’ next favorite – but he seems unlikely to arrive at the finish line at La Plagne on Friday without Pogačar close at hand.
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