Tadej Pogačar didn’t need to attack on the final stage of the Tour de France, but defense wasn’t in his vocabulary during the race and he couldn’t resist another attack.
Pogačar has won the Tour de France for a third time and celebrated his triumph by winning the final stage – a time trial ending in Nice on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Slovenian became the first cyclist since the late Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia in the same year.
“Winning both races in the same year is on another level,” Pogačar said. “I think this is the first Grand Tour where I was fully confident every day. Even at the Giro, I remember having a bad day. This year, the Tour de France was just extraordinary. I enjoyed it from the first day.”
Two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard took second overall. The Dane also finished second in Sunday’s stage.
Pogačar completed the 34 kilometres from Monaco to Nice in 45 minutes 24 seconds. Vingegaard needed 1 min 03 s more. Belgian Remco Evenepoel completed the podium of the stage, 1 min 14 s behind the winner.
In the overall standings, Vingegaard finished 6:17 behind Pogačar. Evenepoel also took third place, 9:18 behind.
PHOTO JEROME DELAY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar (in yellow)
I am very happy. I can’t describe how happy I am, after two difficult years at the Tour de France. This year, everything has been perfect.
Tadej Pogacar
Ontario’s Derek Gee finished sixth in the final stage, 2:31 behind the winner, and finished the lap in ninth position, 27:21 behind Pogačar. Quebec’s Hugo Houle finished the final stage in 50e position, 5 min 40 s from the lead. He also concluded the lap at 50e rank, at 3:26:55 from Pogačar.
Pogačar also won the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021.
The Tour de France did not end in Paris as is traditional because of the Olympic Games, which officially begin in the French capital on Friday.
Early Sunday morning, supporters camped near Nice’s popular Promenade des Anglais to secure a viewing spot for the cyclists.
After an explosive attack on Friday, Pogačar had said he would not try to win Saturday’s stage. However, he could not resist the temptation and the victory made him only the second cyclist to win five mountain stages in the same Tour after Italian Gino Bartali in 1948.
Pogačar didn’t need to push on Sunday either, already with a lead of more than five minutes over Vingegaard. He once again gave in to temptation and sped along the picturesque roads of Eze and Villefranche-sur-Mer, on the approach to Nice.
The Slovenian showed three fingers as he approached the finish for his sixth stage win of the Tour, the same number of stages won during his Giro triumph.
The fight with Vingegaard might have been closer this year under different circumstances. The 27-year-old Dane was hospitalized for almost two weeks in April after a crash during the Tour of the Basque Country. He only returned to competition at the Tour de France.
“Under normal circumstances I would have been disappointed with my Tour de France, but after everything I’ve been through I can’t be disappointed,” Vingegaard said. “I would have liked to go a little further, but that’s how it is. I would like to come back to the Tour de France next year and win it again. I think the yellow jersey is the most beautiful jersey in road cycling.”
Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz won the polka dot jersey for best climber while Eritrean Biniam Girmay took the green jersey for best sprinter. Evenepoel, 24, finished with the white jersey for best young rider.
“I feel like I’m floating on a cloud. It’s a lot of fun,” Girmay said. “I just want to tell the young kids to keep working hard and that anything is possible.”
Hugo Houle to the end of the Tour de France for the sixth time
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, Hugo Houle’s teammate at Israel-Premier Tech, finished his first Tour with the sixth fastest time of the day, 2 min 31 s behind Pogačar, a result that allows him to finish ninth in the general classification.
Swell, 50e of the day (+5 min 40 s) finished the Tour in the same rank (+3 h 26 min 55 s). In six consecutive participations, the 33-year-old athlete has always been able to reach the end of the 21 stages.
His teammate Guillaume Boivin, present at the start in Italy three weeks ago, was not so lucky and had to abandon before the start of the 14the stage due to health problems.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ISRAEL-PREMIER TECH
Cyclist Hugo Houle
In an interview with Sportcom on Saturday, Houle mentioned that he was certain to see Gee make his place in the top 10.
“He’s in good shape and is doing well at the end of the Tour, so I don’t see why he wouldn’t have a great time trial.”
On a more personal note, the veteran had explained his gratitude at once again being entered in the most prestigious race of his sport.
Finishing a sixth Tour de France is always a privilege to be there. The form was good throughout the Tour, especially in the third week. I was able to do a good job and I’m happy. There weren’t many openings for breakaways, but when it was time, I was there twice where it went to the end. I lacked a little luck to get a result in the second or eighteenth stage, but I was there. It’s a good Tour de France for me.
Hugo Houle
After competing at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, Houle will not be on the team that will be in Paris. The two Canadian men’s road cycling spots have been awarded to Derek Gee and Michael Woods.
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