You can always hope, but the victory came out of the blue for the day’s winner. “I really didn’t expect it. I thought I’d be back on the bus pretty quickly, take a shower, and enjoy the rest of the day,” laughed the lead rider of UAE Team Emirates – XRG in the flash interview. “But I don’t mind being here.”
Pogacar showed himself at the front with 40 kilometers to go, but he didn’t launch a real attack. In the end, he had to go all out to keep up with his rival, Vingegaard. “I followed the attacks on the steep part of the climb, and Visma was going for the stage win. They attacked everyone, but I had good legs and could neutralize them. But then Jonas went himself, which hurt. Fortunately, it went downhill afterward, so I could recover and think about the sprint and the GC.”
The peloton was never more than five seconds behind the leaders, but in the end, they managed to stay out of reach of the peloton on the descent towards Montluçon. So it came down to a sprint. 2I knew that Van der Poel was the fastest, of course, but after a ride like that, you can’t rule anyone out,” Pogacar knows. Van der Poel started the sprint first, followed by Pogacar and Vingegaard.
The victory is fantastic, but the world champion does not want to get ahead of himself. Wednesday will see a time trial, and the last three stages will all take place in the mountains. “It’s a stage win, so I can already return home satisfied from the Dauphiné. But I want to see my form in the time trial and the mountain stages. I can’t say that my form is great yet, although it is good. But the real test will come next weekend.”
It is victory number 8 for Pogacar, who, after his victories in the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, among others, is looking for his first overall victory in the Dauphiné. There are often comments about the supremacy of Pogi, who, therefore, reassures his opponents. “Don’t worry, maybe I’ll just retire when my contract ends,” he says jokingly at the end.
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