"I saw that he didn't have the legs to go to the top, so I tried my own attack" - Tadej Pogacar dominates Jonas Vingegaard on stage 15 of 2024 Tour de France

For the 3rd time at the 2024 Tour de France and incredibly, the 9th time this year, Tadej Pogacar won a stage of a Grand Tour this Sunday afternoon. The queen stage of the Tour de France, on Bastille Day, gaining massive time over Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, not many Pogacar wins could have felt better.

"I would never have imagined this kind of outcome after the second week," reflects the UAE Team Emirates leader in his post-stage interview. "So yeah, I'm super happy with my shape. Today was super hot also and it was a really hard day. Usually, I always struggle in the heat but today the team did a really good job cooling me down and yeah, it was an incredible day!"

Having been the only rider able to follow when Vingegaard attacked at just over 10km to the line on the slopes of the Plateau de Beille, Pogacar sat on the wheel, biding his time and then struck viciously with just over 5km to go, leaving his great rival behind and taking the stage win by the more than a minute at the finish.

"I've had a lot of stage victories in the Pyrenees (half of his 14 Tour de France stage wins in fact ed.), I don't know why but somehow I like them and they like me back!" Pogacar smiles. "Team Visma | Lease a Bike controlled today and set a hard pace on the climbs. But I was never worried, I just kept on keeping myself cool, hydrating and eating enough."

"I was on the limit a little bit when Jonas tried to drop me but I could see he was also starting to suffer a bit. So when he tried to drop me the last time, I saw that he didn't have the legs to go to the top, so I tried my own attack. But it was super, super tough in the final," Pogacar continues, now over three minutes ahead on GC. "Now it's really looking good. A really good, comfortable lead and we just need to stay focused these last six days. Keep the mentality like we have."

"I am now looking forward to the rest day," the Maillot Jaune concludes. "I hope we will have a good ride with the boys, stop for a nice coffee or something and just reset a little bit, not too much then go full gas for the final week."