Pogacar extends Tour lead with dominant time-trial win
The defending champion dominated the eight-kilometre climb at 7.9% to clock 23 minutes and beat Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard by a massive 36 seconds, a day after dealing a significant blow to his closest rival in the first major mountain stage in the Pyrenees.
Fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic took third place, 1:40 off the pace, while Belgian Remco Evenepoel hung on to third place overall by the skin of his teeth following a disappointing effort that saw him finish 2:39 behind Pogacar.
After his fourth stage win in this year's race, UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Pogacar leads Vingegaard by 4:07 and Evenepoel by 7:24.
German Florian Lipowitz showed great form again and trails Evenepoel by six seconds.
Pogacar picked a regular road bike for the solo effort against the clock while Evenepoel and Vingegaard opted for a time trial bike - heavier but with better aerodynamics.
It was quickly clear that regardless of those calculations, Pogacar was again the strongest rider as he posted the best time on the brief flat portion ahead of the main ascent before further extending his advantage.
'I'm super happy. This time trial was a question mark for me back in December. I wanted everything to be perfect, and the team delivered - everything was on point,' he told reporters.
'I was targeting to go all out from start to finish. I almost blew up at the end, but when I saw I was going to win at the finish, it gave me an extra push.'
The 26-year-old said it had been a close call between the road and the TT bike, but in the end he chose the most comfortable ride.
'The biggest decision was which bike to ride today. Obviously, we ride road bikes all year round, but we did the calculations and the time ended up about the same. So I decided to go with what I felt more confident on.'
Pogacar went full gas from the start. 'My tactic was simple: go all out from the bottom to the top,' he said. 'At the first time check, I saw I was five seconds ahead - that gave me confidence. The second split was even better,' he explained.
'Basically, I was trying not to blow up in the first part. I almost did in the end - maybe in the last kilometre. From 3 to 2 km to go, I reset a bit because that last kick is super steep.'
Pogacar will now go for a hat-trick of stage wins on Saturday, when the 14th stage will take the peloton from Pau to Luchon-Superbagneres with the awe-inspiring climbs of the Col d'Aspin, Col du Tourmalet, Col de Peyresourde before the final ascent, a 12.4-km effort at 7.3%.
'Do we wait for a death:? Rising temperatures and increasing speeds in the Tour de France have prompted sports directors to call for changes to feeding zone regulations, citing heightened risks of injury and dehydration for riders.
'We're placing feed zones on flat, fast stretches where riders are doing 60 kph,' Philippe Mauduit, performance director at Groupama-FDJ, told Reuters on Friday before the start of the 13th stage.
'It's so dangerous. A rider trying to grab a musette (feed bag) can break a finger or crash. And if he brakes too much, he's dropped - and in that group speed, he's not coming back.'
French rider Bryan Coquard broke a finger in Thursday's 12th stage as he attempted to grab his feed bag and said he would abandon the race after Friday's individual time trial.
The growing risk, particularly under extreme weather conditions, has prompted a reevaluation of race feeding protocols among teams and organisers.
'In 35°C heat, this isn't a luxury. It's vital,' Mauduit said. 'Do we need to wait for someone to die on Mont Ventoux before we act?'
Tour organisers (ASO) and the International Cycling Union (UCI) were not immediately available for comment.
One key complaint is the placement of feed zones on long straightaways instead of safer, slower segments like slight uphills or post-town exits.
Mauduit cited several recent crashes and injuries directly linked to chaotic feeding zones.
'There have been a lot of broken collarbones and scaphoid fractures this season. We're putting riders in no-win scenarios,' he said.
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