Tour de France champion and UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar on Saturday surged through snow to the mountain-top finish in the Tirreno-Adriatico to wrest the race lead from Wout van Aert.
The 148km stage from Terni ended with a battle between a group of elite riders up the 14.7km climb to Prati di Tivo.
Slovenia’s Pogacar held off a late pursuit by defending champion Simon Yates to edge the Briton by 6 seconds, with Colombia’s Sergio Higuita leading the remnants of the group of contenders home 29 seconds back.
Photo: AP
Pogacar took over the race lead from Belgium’s Van Aert of Team Jumbo–Visma, who limited the damage by finishing ninth, 45 seconds back, after a gritty ride.
“Today, I had a battle with myself the last few kilometers,” Pogacar said at the finish. “Simon was coming close in the end, but I struggled to the finish. I did everything I could. It was a fast climb. It was a super climb.”
The long final ascent was marked by a string of attacks, including jabs by Tour de France champions and Ineos riders Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas.
Pogacar caught Thomas and then, with 5.6km to go, powered away alone.
“When I went on the attack, I tried to get rid of everyone,” Pogacar said. “I tried to be alone and go my own tempo.”
Team BikeExchange rider Yates finally gave chase, but like his brother, Team Ineos rider Adam Yates, who finished second to Pogacar in the UAE Tour last month, could not quite match him.
Van Aert — who at about 78kg is less suited to climbing than wiry riders such as Pogacar — refused to be distracted by the sudden accelerations of his rivals.
He slogged up the slope at an unwavering tempo, as more natural climbers — such as Colombia’s Bernal, Thomas and French world champion Julian Alaphilippe — all cracked.
“I would have liked to hang on longer,” Van Aert said. “But Tadej started quite early and that was not in my favor. The pressure was on me and I had to pace for myself. I think I did the best I could. Thirty-five seconds is a nice advantage for Tadej, but there are three more stages.”
Bernal and Thomas crossed the line together, 58 seconds after Pogacar.
Pogacar took a 35-second lead over Van Aert in the overall standings, with Higuita of Team Education First jumping to third.
“Every second is good, but tomorrow is a super hard day,” Pogacar said.
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