5 hours ago
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A devastating attack from Tadej Pogacar on first Tour de France’s first day in the Pyrenees helped the defending champion reclaim the yellow jersey and leave his rivals trailing after stage 12.
Many wondered if the three-time champion would suffer any ill effects from his crash on Wednesday but Pogacar put himself in prime position for his fourth Tour victory with a decisive break on the stage-ending climb to Hautacam. The Slovenian finished the stage more than two minutes ahead of his main rival Jonas Vingegaard.
In 2022, Vingegaard dominated Pogacar at Hautacam on his way to his first Tour victory. But the Danish rider is now three-and-a-half minutes behind his main rival in the general classification.
The riders were barely on to the Hautacam, the first hors catégorie climb of this Tour at an average gradient of 7.9km over 13.5km, when Pogacar burst off the wheel of teammate Jhonatan Narváez, with Vingegaard unable to keep up. Pogacar gradually pulled further and further clear.
“I almost already forgot [about the Hautacam stage in 2022] and was just looking forward to today, then all the people came to me saying all the time about this, ‘Is this revenge time?’ Then when we approached the bottom of the climb it was the reverse story of a few years ago,” said Pogacar. “For sure you don’t know how the body reacts after a crash, but it was not too bad a crash. I feel my hip only if I do acrobatics, but here riding the bike it’s not big flexing.”
Ben Healy, who wore the yellow jersey for two stages, finished well behind on a brutal day for the Irish rider and the rest of the field.
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Jeremy Whittle’s stage 12 report to follow
English (US)