Tadej Pogacar confirms victory at 2024 Tour de France with scintillating sixth stage win

Tadej Pogacar has officially reclaimed the Maillot Jaune and in style too with a scintillating sixth stage win in the final individual time-trial around Nice.

All eyes were on Pogacar himself, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, the three big favorites for the win. In the end, the victory went to a Tadej Pogacar who doesn't seem to be satisfied with anything. 6 stage wins for the UAE Team Emirates leader, tying those he also won in the Giro d'Italia, to close the double in style with a time of 45:24.

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The first rider to start the final time trial in Nice was Davide Ballerini. The Astana Qazaqstan Team rider clocked a time of 53:10, which was soon to be beaten by Cees Bol with 52:24. The first results, however, were to be shattered by a Lenny Martinez who took provisional first place by improving by 3 minutes the next best time, with 48:24. But there was still a long way to go.

The riders continued to finish and, for now, no one was even close to Martinez's time. In fact, the closest one after almost 2 hours of time trial was Raul Garcia Pierna, with a time of 49:57 for the Spaniard.

It was not until 17:10h in the afternoon when he was going to beat the time of Lenny Martinez. The Colombian Harold Tejada marked a time of 48:14 to beat by 10 seconds the previous mark of the French rider, and it was going to take a long time to overcome the Astana Qazaqstan Team rider.

Harold Tejada still could not be unseated by anyone. While the favorites were getting ready to start, the riders closest to the Colombian were the aforementioned Lenny Martinez, followed by Victor Campenaerts (48:38), Neilson Powless (49:09) and Matteo Sobrero (49:19).

While some prominent names, such as Enric Mas, Richard Carapaz or Jai Hindley, were already riding, Quentin Pacher was placed 4th provisionally behind Tejada, Martinez and Campenaerts with a time of 42:54. After that, the Top 10 of the general classification began to emerge, where it was necessary to be attentive especially to the positions from 4th to 10th, since the podium was already confirmed with Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel.

Meanwhile, the riders continued to enter the finish line and no one managed to beat Tejada. At the start, Giulio Ciccone opened the participation of the Top 10 in the general classification, with all eyes on the favorites. Matteo Jorgenson suffered a setback in the first kilometers after going to the ground. At 18:46, Tadej Pogacar took the start so that all the riders were already on the road.

At the first intermediate point, Remco Evenepoel set a time of 20:36, 36 seconds faster than Derek Gee, who had the best time up to that point. But then came Jonas Vingegaard with a brutal 20:17 to improve him by 19 seconds. Behind, it was Tadej Pogacar who would get the best time at the first intermediate point of the day, with 20:10, 7 seconds faster than the Dane.

At the second intermediate point, Evenepoel set a time of 29:30, improving Gee's previous best by 47 seconds. But his two rivals were still setting a very fierce pace. Vingegaard continued to shatter the Belgian's records, and with 29:03 he entered the second intermediate point with a 27-second lead. But the cannibal was very hungry, and scored a spectacular 28:39 in T2, 24 seconds better than the Dane.

At the third intermediate point it seemed that Pogacar was already beginning to taste victory. Remco Evenepoel started with a time of 40:56, but it was not to last. Jonas Vingegaard entered T3 24 seconds behind the Belgian with a time of 40:32. This is where Pogacar's final feat came, who closed the third intermediate point with 1 minute and 4 seconds! less than Vingegaard: 39:28.

Pogacar had the sixth victory in his pocket. It is being historic. In the end, first came Remco Evenepoel with 46:38 at the finish. Jonas Vingegaard overtook him with a time of 46:27 to finish 2nd, because Tadej Pogacar closed in style a historic Grande Boucle with a time of 45:24.

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