'Baby Cannibal' Pogacar claims vintage Tour de France title
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[July 19, 2021]
By Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) -Tadej Pogacar became the youngest rider to win
back-to-back Tour de France titles on Sunday after some vintage
racing drew comparisons with cycling's greatest.
The 22-year-old Slovenian, who won the Tour on his debut last year,
hammered his rivals in the Alps with a long-range attack on stage
eight, reminiscent of the event in the 1980s, and stayed in control
for the rest of the race.
He beat Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard by a massive five minutes 20
seconds as Ecuador's Richard Carapaz took third place, 7:03 off the
pace as his Ineos Grenadiers team failed to spark once again.
"I'm gonna speak from the heart," said Pogacar on the final podium.
"Thank you to everybody who came along during the three weeks. It
was amazing to be riding along the route."
Pogacar finished Sunday's 21st and final stage safe in the bunch as
Belgian Wout van Aert prevailed in the sprint to beat compatriot
Jasper Philipsen and Briton Mark Cavendish who were second and
third, respectively.
Pogacar watched from the inside of the bunch, raising his arms as he
crossed the line.
"I see him as the new Cannibal," said five-time Tour champion Eddy
Merckx, who earned that nickname due to his insatiable appetite for
victory and won his first Tour in 1969 at the age of 23.
"He is extremely strong. I see him winning several editions of the
Tour in the years to come. If nothing happens to him, he can
certainly win the Tour de France more than five times."
ALL-ROUND QUALITIES
While Pogacar says he doesn't like comparisons, the UAE Emirates
rider threw caution to the wind when he attacked in the Col de Romme
on the eighth stage, in a move similar to those of Merckx or fellow
five-time Tour winner Bernard Hinault.
Pogacar won two mountain stages in the Pyrenees and an individual
time trial - a testament to his all-round qualities - with his only
sign of weakness coming in week two on Mont Ventoux.
He finishes the Tour with the white jersey for the best Under-25
rider in the race and with the polka-dot jersey for the mountains
classification, just like last year.
The green jersey went to Cavendish after the Briton took his tally
of career stage wins to a record-equalling 34, with four victories
in this year's race although he was denied the 35th by Van Aert on
Sunday.
[to top of second column] |
Team Jumbo–Visma rider Jonas Vingegaard
of Denmark wearing the white jersey, UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej
Pogacar of Slovenia wearing the yellow jersey, Deceuninck–Quick-Step
rider Mark Cavendish of Britain wearing the green jersey and Bhhrain
Victorious rider Wout Poels of the Netherlands wearing the polka dot
jersey at the start of stage 21 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
It marked a spectacular comeback for
the Manxman, who was returning to the Tour for the first time since
2018 after years of poor results and mental health problems.
Cavendish was perfectly set up in the sprints by his
Deceuninck-Quick Step team mates as the Belgian outfit claimed five
wins in this year's edition.
After losing the first mass sprint of the race, Cavendish was
untouchable, avoiding the multiple crashes that marred this year's
Tour and sent his potential main rival, Caleb Ewan, home after the
third stage.
Those crashes also ended the hopes of last year's runner-up Primoz
Roglic, who abandoned before the eighth stage, while the chances of
Ineos Greanadiers' co-leaders Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart
were also ruined when they hit the deck early in the race.
The last days were marked by a potential doping scandal as a French
prosecutor in Marseille opened an investigation into the Bahrain
Victorious team after the outfit's accommodation and vehicles were
searched by police on Wednesday.
Bahrain Victorious said they were cooperating with the
investigation.
They won three stages this year with Belgian Dylan Teuns' solo raid
in the mountains, while Slovenian Matej Mohoric took two victories
from the breakaway.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; editing by Pritha Sarkar and Toby
Davis)
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