Pogacar Attacks Tour Leader on Iconic Climb, to No Avail

At one point, a man in his underwear on the scorching hot day ran alongside the top riders for 100 yards, carrying a lit flare.

A little ways ahead of Pogacar and Vingegaard on Thursday, Tom Pidcock of Britain, only 22 years old and riding in his first Tour, became the youngest man ever to win atop Alpe d’Huez. His victory came after a long breakaway that was started by the American Neilson Powless, who finished fourth on the day. But the battle that mattered for the overall Tour title was the Pogacar-Vingegaard duel taking place about three minutes behind.

In all, the riders covered 103 miles in just under five hours, an awful lot of it straight uphill. But it was the final climb that offered drama but no decisive moment. And so with the Pyrenees still to come, Vingegaard and his team took one more giant step toward victory.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/14/sports/cycling/tour-de-france-vingegaard-pogacar.html