Pogačar Dominates Bastille Day Stage to Extend Tour de France Lead

Tadej Pogačar silenced roadside jeers with a commanding victory on France’s national holiday, producing another masterclass in Tuesday’s mountainous 10th stage to significantly extend his overall lead at the Tour de France.

The world champion claimed his third stage win of this year’s race — remarkably, his third on Bastille Day — pushing his advantage over Jonas Vingegaard beyond three and a half minutes. It represents the largest gap Pogačar has ever held over his rivals at this point in the Tour.

The victory also marked the four-time champion’s 24th career stage win at the Tour, moving him within one of French legend André Leducq — a two-time winner in the 1930s — for fourth on the all-time list.

Even hostility from sections of the crowd failed to dampen his spirits.

“Today was an incredible day. The team did a super job,” said the 27-year-old Slovenian.

“We targeted this stage for a long time, and it also happens that two years ago Jonas beat me in the sprint fair and square.”

That defeat remains the last time Vingegaard bested Pogačar in a head-to-head battle for a stage win.

“I didn’t know I was going to win until the final kilometre, and then I remembered it was Bastille Day and I wanted to honour the yellow jersey,” Pogačar added.

“Thanks to all the fans who came out today; the atmosphere was amazing, even with some booing. All the guys that were booing, they give us more power.”

Vingegaard Falters on Final Slopes

The defending champion launched his move 15.5 kilometres from the finish of the 166.6 km stage in the Cantal mountains, quickly forging a decisive gap.

Behind him, the contest reduced to a battle for the minor placings — both on the day and in the general classification.

Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel held firm to take second, 32 seconds down, while French teenage sensation Paul Seixas edged Florian Lipowitz for third by two seconds.

Vingegaard cracked on the uphill drag to the line, crossing seventh at 44 seconds. He now trails Pogačar by 3 minutes 36 seconds, with Evenepoel moving into third overall, a further 30 seconds back.

Pogačar’s teammate Isaac Del Toro was the day’s biggest loser in the general classification, plummeting from third to seventh after finishing eighth at 1 minute 31 seconds.

The day’s breakaway took roughly 50 kilometres to form as Mads Pedersen’s Lidl-Trek team drove a ferocious pace to set up the Danish rider for the intermediate sprint, where he extended his lead in the green jersey competition.

A 31-rider group eventually escaped, but Spaniard Javier Romo soon went solo for around 50 kilometres before Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG reeled him in with 38 kilometres remaining.

That catch triggered a move from former Giro d’Italia winner Richard Carapaz, who launched his bid for glory on the 7.8 km Puy Mary climb.

He built a lead of around a minute and a quarter on the rapid descent to the key 4.4 km, punishingly steep Col de Pertus. However, once Pogačar unleashed his blistering attack just over a kilometre from the summit, the outcome was never in doubt.

He flew past Carapaz 250 metres from the top and crested the climb with a 20-second buffer over a group containing Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Seixas, Lipowitz, and Spaniard Juan Ayuso.

By the foot of the descent, Pogačar’s lead hovered around 16 seconds, but he proved simply too strong for the chasers to close the gap, even extending his advantage to the finish line.

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