"This stage can go for Samuele Privitera and to all his family" - Tadej Pogacar dedicates Tour de France dominance to tragic passing of Jayco prospect

For the 20th time in his career, Tadej Pogacar is celebrating stage victory at the Tour de France this evening. Arguably, few, if any, have been quite so special as his stage 12 dominance at the 2025 edition either, where the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader destroyed Jonas Vingegaard, putting more than two minutes into his rival on the slopes of the Hautacam.

With 12 kilometers remaining on the climb to Hautacam, Pogacar launched a blistering attack that immediately left Jonas Vingegaard behind. From that moment on, the Slovenian only continued to extend his lead with every pedal stroke. By the time he crossed the finish line, he had opened up a staggering 2 minutes and 10 seconds on the two-time Tour de France champion. The implications for the general classification are major: Pogacar reclaims the yellow jersey from Ben Healy — who was dropped earlier in the stage — and now holds a commanding 3:31 advantage over Vingegaard.

“We did superb job. The team rode really well. Chapeau also to Ben Healy and EF. They were trying to defend the jersey, and they showed a really big spirit. Also, Uno-X were fighting for their own GC," reflected Pogacar in his post-stage interview, understandably in a much happier mood than he had been a day prior, when a crash almost ended his Tour prematurely. "It was a hard day for everybody but in the end, we were super strong. We had this stage in mind for a long time, and we did it.”

Showing his class, Pogacar also paid tribute to Samuele Privitera, the 19-year-old Jayco prospect who tragically lost his life on Wednesday during a race in Italy. "I think this stage can go for Samuele and to all his family because it was really sad," says the Slovenian. "It was the first thing I read in the morning, and I was thinking in the last kilometre about him and how tough this sport can be and how much pain it can cause.”

Ultimately though, it is a day of success for Pogacar, with him maybe even having won the 2025 Tour de France on stage 12. “I knew the first time I rode Hautacam, when I did recon, that it was a super nice climb. I was always looking forward to riding this climb and then it was in the 2022 Tour de France,” Pogacar added, recalling similarities with the nightmare he experienced three years ago. “For the GC, I was trying with my head through the wall to get back the yellow jersey, but Jumbo was too strong back then. I almost already forgot about this. I was looking forward to today and then all the people were coming to me to say, ‘This is the revenge time, blah blah blah’. Then, when we approached the bottom of the climb, it was just the reverse story of a few years ago, one Belgian on the front and our team on the front. Really, I’m super happy to take time and to win on this climb.”