"I can still win the Tour" - Tadej Pogacar still dreams of yellow after dramatic win in Peyragudes

The battle between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard has been one that has tilted towards the Danish climber, however today at the Tour de France Tadej Pogacar got a motivating win and a strong team performance which has him still dream of taking the lead.

“The way the team rode today with only four riders, just to take the stage win is already incredible. We can all be proud of what we have done," Pogacar said in a post-race interview. "Without Rafal [Majka], George [Bennett], Vegard [Stake Laengen] and [Marc] Soler, we couldn’t try more". However, with the help of Mikkel Bjerg and Brandon McNulty, UAE Team Emirates was able to decimate the peloton entirely, except for the one rider the team needed to drop.

"Mikkel set such a good pace on the climb, I felt so good and confident with that pace, then Brandon did an amazing job in the last two climbs," he described. "He’s been good all the Tour but today he deserves a special mention".

With Bjerg setting the pace at Hourquette d'Ancizan and Brandon McNulty pacing the duo away from the rest of the peloton, the breakaway was caught and the win was in the group. Pogacar bluffed on the final ramp to the finish line, having Jonas Vingegaard launch the sprint first, before making a furious dash to the line to take his third win of the race.

"We’ll see tomorrow if there is another chance but for now I’m happy that I won today. I gave absolutely everything. I knew I had to win the stage for the team. There was no other way. It’s not only because of Brandon [McNulty], Mikkel [Bjerg] and [Marc] Hirschi too," he added.

"I’m so happy! And I’m optimistic that I can still win the Tour. Tomorrow is a harder stage, so we can try again," he concluded. Although he may be able to take time on the final time-trial, it will be tomorrow on the stage to Hautacam where he needs to make the difference in order to still fight for the race win.