PARIS, JULY 14 (BUS) – Tadig Bukajjar promised revenge after giving up his yellow Tour de France jersey to Jonas Weinggaard on Wednesday as the two-time champion suffered a grueling day on the slopes of the Col de Granon in the Alps on the 11th of the stage.
Slovenian Pogakar, whose UAE team weakened after two runners withdrew from the race with COVID-19, looked unbreakable in the first block of the race but cracked after being relentlessly attacked by the 25-year-old Jumbo-Visma team. Vinggaard, and last year’s summer, Reuters reports.
Vingegaard attacked 4.9km from the finish to bring down Pogacar, who crossed the line 2 minutes 51 seconds behind the new yellow jersey holder.
Poujacar slipped to third overall, six seconds behind second-placed Frenchman Romain Bardet of Team DSM, who is 2min 16sec behind Weinggaard.
“I want revenge, I want to race to the end,” said the 23-year-old Poojakar. “I want to give it my all and have no regrets.
“I was suffering until the end. They played (Jumbo-Visma) in a really smart way, for us it was difficult to control. Tactically, they did a good job.
“It was a bad day at the end but I’ll keep fighting. It’s not over yet, there are still a lot of stages… I lost three minutes today, maybe tomorrow I’ll get three.”
Next on the peloton is another demanding ride, and the summit finish, on Thursday – France’s National Bastille Day holiday – the 165.1km journey from Briancon to the famous Alpe d’Huez, stage 12 of the race’s 21 stages.